What Horton makes

Horton, Inc. builds engine cooling and thermal management systems for heavy-duty vehicles and equipment: fan drives, clutches, and cooling fans that sit at the front of a diesel or electrified powertrain and regulate how much air moves through the radiator. The core product line is variable-speed and two-speed fan drives, engaging the fan only when cooling is needed so the engine spends less power spinning it. Named fan-drive families include the LCV and LCX live-center variable-speed drives, the RCV and RCV250 viscous high-horsepower drives for off-highway equipment, the RCX and VS series for trucks, and the DM Advantage, MSC2, and EC450/EC600 two-speed and on/off drives rated up to roughly 600 horsepower.

On the fan side, Horton makes metal, modular composite, and molded nylon OEM fans in diameters from 254 to 2,438 mm (10 to 96 inches). Recent additions include the HM Series molded fans, the HTEC thermoset composite line, and the Shogun and WindShift modular fans built for reduced-emission engines. The company also runs an electrification program, adapting its cooling expertise to hydrogen, fuel-cell, and battery-electric heavy-duty platforms, with a full-scale dynamometer lab and a fan-pressure wind tunnel for validation. Horton serves on-highway trucks, off-highway and construction, agriculture, mining, stationary and generator sets, oil and gas compression, and the aftermarket.

Ownership and history

Hugh Schilling bought Horton for $50,000 on September 17, 1951, backed by three investors, and the company started out making industrial clutches. In the 1960s Horton applied that clutch expertise to vehicle cooling, and during the 1970s U.S. energy crisis it convinced truck fleets that engine cooling fan drives could cut fuel use. By the 1980s Horton fan drives were standard equipment on major truck OEMs. The company remains privately held by the Schilling family, with a Schilling Family Office listed among its governing group, and operates under the parent Horton Holding, Inc.

Horton is headquartered at 2565 Walnut Street in Roseville, Minnesota, and reports 15 facilities worldwide selling into about 70 countries through roughly 900 distributor locations. Manufacturing sits in Britton, South Dakota, where the company built its 10,000,000th fan clutch on July 23, 2024, in Oconee County (Westminster), South Carolina, where a plant became fully operational in 2021, and in Schweinfurt, Germany, home to Horton Europe GmbH & Co. KG. Sales offices operate in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Germany. Day-to-day leadership, per the company's own site and public records: Cordell Dietz, President and CEO since January 2016; Sarah Aesoph, CFO and CIO and a 2023 Minnesota CFO of the Year; Dirk Kreunen, Senior Vice President of Off Road and New Market Development; and Tony Niese, Vice President of Operations.

Certifications and quality

Horton posts current certificates for IATF 16949, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001 on its site. The IATF 16949 automotive quality certificate carries a 2025 date, ISO 9001 covers multiple sites including a separately certified China operation, and the ISO 14001 environmental certificate runs into 2026. Multi-site certification across quality and environmental standards is the norm for a heavy-duty Tier 1 or Tier 2 component supplier, and Horton reports it as a company claim backed by the posted certificate documents. The company describes state-of-the-art R&D and test resources, including virtual wind-tunnel simulation, computational fluid dynamics, a hydrodynamic shaker for vibration and durability testing, thermal shock, accelerated life, and dynamometer testing before field validation.

Known customers

Horton's OEM relationships are a mix of long-standing standard-equipment programs it states itself and a recent award documented by a third party.

The PACCAR recognition is confirmed by PACCAR's own newsroom and by regional press, not only by Horton. The older standard-equipment programs on Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Navistar, and Volvo come from the company's published history. Beyond named programs, Horton supplies on- and off-highway truck, construction, mining, and agricultural OEMs worldwide.

Sourcing evidence

Horton's U.S. import record reads like a manufacturer's, not a reseller's: 986 sea shipments since January 2015, with the most recent on September 19, 2026, and a mix dominated by gear trains, bearings, fan-clutch brackets, and electromagnetic couplings rather than finished goods. Average container volume runs about 16 TEU per month, and shipment activity is steady and up year over year, with the trailing month running well ahead of a year earlier. The single largest source is intra-company: Horton Europe in Schweinfurt ships components to the U.S. operation. The named foreign suppliers on record:

By HS chapter, the mix leads with transmission gears and sprockets (8483), fan and machinery parts (8414), electromagnetic clutches and couplings (8505), and vehicle parts and accessories (8708). The import base is concentrated in Germany, South Korea, and China, a footprint relevant to buyers weighing tariff exposure and nearshoring.

Coverage caveats: these are U.S. ocean-freight records only, so air, truck, and rail movements do not appear. The ImportYeti "Horton" aggregate also files under multiple names and addresses, and a few entries (swing-door power supplies and PCB assemblies) appear to belong to a different Horton company folded into the total rather than to Horton, Inc.'s cooling business. Product categories come from declared manifest codes, which are noisy. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Horton, Inc. make?

Horton makes engine cooling and thermal management systems for heavy-duty vehicles and equipment: variable-speed and two-speed fan drives, fan clutches, and cooling fans in metal, composite, and molded nylon. It also develops thermal management for hydrogen, fuel-cell, and battery-electric heavy-duty platforms. Fan diameters range from 254 to 2,438 mm.

Who owns Horton, Inc.?

Horton is privately held by the Schilling family and operates under the parent Horton Holding, Inc. Hugh Schilling bought the company for $50,000 in 1951, and a Schilling Family Office is listed among its governing group. There is no public listing or private-equity parent on record.

Where is Horton, Inc. headquartered?

Horton is headquartered at 2565 Walnut Street, Roseville, Minnesota 55113. It reports 15 facilities worldwide, with manufacturing in Britton, South Dakota; Oconee County (Westminster), South Carolina; and Schweinfurt, Germany, plus sales offices in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Germany.

Who are Horton, Inc.'s customers?

Horton supplies heavy-duty truck and equipment OEMs. It was recognized by PACCAR as a top-performing North American supplier in 2026, and its fan drives have been standard equipment on Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner, Navistar, and Volvo. It also serves construction, mining, agriculture, stationary, and oil-and-gas compression markets.

What certifications does Horton, Inc. hold?

Horton posts current IATF 16949, ISO 9001, and ISO 14001 certificates on its site. The IATF 16949 automotive quality certificate carries a 2025 date, ISO 9001 covers multiple sites including a separately certified China operation, and the ISO 14001 environmental certificate runs into 2026.

How long has Horton, Inc. been in business?

Horton has operated since 1951, when Hugh Schilling bought the company and began making industrial clutches. It moved into vehicle cooling in the 1960s and its fan drives became standard OEM truck equipment by the 1980s, giving it more than 70 years of continuous operation.

Last verified September 27, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.