1971—1990: New Horizons
| 1971 | The previously independent MAHLE companies are grouped together to form MAHLE GmbH |
| 1972 | Acquisition of shares in Knecht Filterwerke GmbH, Germany, and consequently also in Knecht Filterwerk Ges.m.b.H., Austria |
| 1973 | Acquisition of a holding in FISA Fundiciones Industriales S.A. in Spain—now MAHLE S.A. |
| 1974 | Introduction of star-pleated filter elements in dedusting technology |
| 1976 | Aluminum engine blocks made using low-pressure die casting process reach the series production stage First pistons made of ductile iron (GGG) for truck diesel engines |
| 1978 | Establishment of MAHLE Manufacturing—now MAHLE, Inc., USA Development of profiled piston pins |
| 1979 | Acquisition of CIMA, later MAHLE Indústria é Comércio Ltda., Brazil |
| 1980 | Cold extrusion of piston pin blanks |
| 1981 | Establishment of Metalúrgica Mogi Guaçu Ltda., Brazil—now part of MAHLE Metal Leve, S.A. |
| 1983 | Pleuco GmbH—now MAHLE Ventiltrieb GmbH, Germany—acquires Sinterwerke Grenchen AG, Switzerland—now MAHLE Motorkomponenten Schweiz AG. Pleuco GmbH only manufacturer of cast and sintered valve seat inserts and guides First use of freely programmable CNC profiling lathes in piston machining |
| 1984 | First standard use of laser welding in the automotive industry (on valve tappets) |
| 1985 | HYDROTHERMIC® and HYDROTHERMATIK® pistons in series production Introduction of ecological filter elements Production of composite camshafts |
| 1986 | Acquisition of Técafiltres S.A. and Soparis S.A., France—now MAHLE Filter Systems France SAS |
| 1987 | Acquisition of Mondial Piston S.p.A., Italy—now MAHLE Componenti Motori Italia S.p.A. Introduction of FERROTHERM® pistons |
| 1988 | Composite pistons for large diesel engines with bore cooling |
| 1989 | Ceramic fiber-reinforced LIQUOSTATIK® aluminum pistons for high-load diesel engines go into series production |
