[2] Rotax four-stroke and advanced two-stroke engines are used in a wide variety of small land, sea and airborne vehicles.

[4][5][6][7][8] The company was founded in 1920 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, as ROTAX-WERK AG, the name referring to the „rotanda axis“ used in the 1906 bicycle freewheel patent by Friedrich Theodor Gottschalk (1858-1932).

In 1930, Rotax was taken over by Fichtel & Sachs and transferred its operations, soon reduced to sales, to Schweinfurt, northern Bavaria, Germany.

When this area came within reach of allied bombing in 1943, the engine production of Fichtel & Sachs, was moved further south-east within the Greater German Reich, to Wels, Reichsgau Oberdonau, into the facilities of Reform-Werke Bauer & Co that had produced agricultural machines.

After the war, under US control, Reform-Werke Bauer resumed agricultural production in the Wels city center near the central station.

[3] The original application for Rotax engines was Ski-Doo snowmobiles from Bombardier Recreational Products including two-stroke and four-stroke, turbocharged and naturally aspirated, two- and three-cylinder models.

[5][18][19] But operational experience and modifications to address specific reliability issues over time gradually extended the TBO to 2,000 hours.

[5][18][19][17] An independent 2022 statistical study of U.S. government accident data found that the Rotax 912 family had the lowest rate of failure of the six most common lines of engines used in registered Experimental/Amateur-Built (E/A-B) aircraft.

[6][14] One general aviation industry media reporter found that 70-80% of the 66,000 aircraft he'd identified, worldwide, used Rotax four-stroke engines.

[14] The 912/914/915 series also powers larger certified aircraft, including the Diamond Katana, and the twin-engined Tecnam P2006T and Leza/Lockwood Aircam.

[27] The company also produces unbranded engines, parts and complete powertrains for original equipment manufacturers (OEM).