13 May, 2025
HONORING THE LEGACY OF MR. ANTONI AMAT, FOUNDER OF NEKLAR (ESTAMP S.A.)
With deep sadness, we announce the passing of our founder, Mr. Antoni Amat, yesterday on May 12th, 2025.
Born in 1935 in Terrassa (Barcelona), Mr. Amat was a great aviation enthusiast, a passion that accompanied him from a young age. This interest eventually led him to obtain his pilot’s license during his university military service.
After studying Engineering at the Industrial School of Terrassa, he embarked on a long and successful professional career in the automotive industry.
One of his major professional milestones was leading the design and manufacturing of the bodywork for the SEAT 1200 SPORT for the cooperative INDUCAR of Terrassa, a company he co-founded alongside other entrepreneurs. INDUCAR became one of the city’s benchmark companies. The SEAT 1200 SPORT, known as “Bocanegra,” was a revolutionary vehicle design for its time and remains a cult classic among automotive enthusiasts.
In 1984, he founded ESTAMP S.A. (now NEKLAR), a company dedicated to metal stamping. His entrepreneurial spirit, unquestionable leadership, and steadfast values guided the company through a period of significant growth during the 1990s, culminating in a process of international expansion in the first two decades of the 21st century, under the leadership of Ignasi and Pere Amat, two of his children who had taken over the company’s executive management.
This long and successful entrepreneurial journey was recognized in 2014 when he was awarded the “Business Leadership” award at the Cambra Awards, granted by the Chamber of Commerce of Terrassa, a city with which Mr. Amat was deeply connected.
We have lost an exceptional leader, a charismatic and inspiring individual.
Mr. Amat leaves behind an irreplaceable void and the challenge of continuing his legacy. We will do so with responsibility, commitment, enthusiasm, and by preserving his founding values, which have brought us to where we are today.
With affection, admiration, and respect,
The Neklar team
