The Story Behind Permobil

Our story starts in the 1960s when Beatlemania was sweeping the world and the first man was about to walk on the moon.

At the same time, in a small corner of Sweden, a man on a quest was making another kind of history. That man was Per Uddén. In his work as a doctor, he met polio patients who were confined indoors to their wheelchairs. He wondered why they couldn't use those chairs outside.

Driven by his passion to find a solution that would make the lives of his patients better, he and his friend, Bert Engman, spent many evenings working together in a basement to build an electric wheelchair that would give people the freedom to go outside.

The fact that they didn't have any skills in building electric vehicles didn't stop them.

Permobil founder Dr Per Uddén believed that helping people achieve the greatest level of independence is a basic human right and, for over 50 years, Permobil has held fast to that belief. Permobil is a global leader in advanced medical technology, passionate about better understanding our users' needs and improving their quality of life through state-of-the-art healthcare solutions.

With an annual growth of 20 percent the past five years, Permobil offers solutions include power wheelchairs, seating and positioning products, power assist, and manual wheelchairs.

Permobil is part of Patricia Industries, a subsidiary of Investor AB and is headquartered in Sweden. Permobil has 1600 team members in 17 countries around the world.