Award to Be Presented at The Car Wash Show™ 2026
WHEATON, IL — May 4, 2026 — The International Carwash Association (ICA) today announced that Richard Enning, CEO of Mr. Wash AG, will be inducted into the ICA Hall of Fame at The Car Wash Show™ 2026, which will take place at the Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 11-13.
The honor recognizes Enning’s decades of transformative leadership, his relentless commitment to innovation and his profound influence on the global professional car wash industry.
A Legacy Built from the Ground Up
Mr. Wash was founded by Richard’s father, Joseph Enning, who had been inspired by the scale and efficiency of American conveyor car washes after visiting the U.S. in the early 1960s. Joseph returned to Germany in 1964 and opened the first Mr. Wash location, bringing with him a vision that would shape the country’s car wash industry for a long time.
Richard grew up immersed in the business, spending his childhood weekends at the wash alongside his parents. After building his early career at a major industrial company, he returned to the family business at the age of 33 in 1993, bringing with him a fresh perspective and a drive
to modernize. One of his first moves was developing a proprietary MS-DOS-based management system at a time when computerized operations were virtually unheard of in the car wash industry. Still today the company is using only its own developed IT-systems.
Engineering Excellence and Industry Firsts
Under Richard’s leadership, Mr. Wash has grown into one of Europe’s most recognized car wash operations, with nearly 40 locations across Germany’s major cities and more than 2,100 employees from 97 countries. The company cleans nearly ten million vehicles per year.
From the beginning, a commitment to custom-built technology has set Mr. Wash apart. Rather than purchasing equipment off the shelf, the company developed an in-house mechanical engineering team that designs and builds its own machinery — durable, high-capacity systems tailored specifically to the demands of high-volume washing. Mr. Wash pioneered the double conveyor belt car wash, with two tunnels running side by side to dramatically increase throughput. The company now operates 55 interior cleaning belts across its network. With this, Mr. Wash is the world’s largest provider of this kind of service. More than four million cars are cleaned from the inside on these facilities every year.
Sustainability has also been a hallmark of Enning’s tenure. The company’s site in Muelheim is believed to be the world’s first large-scale car wash to meet all of its electricity needs through on-site solar power. Furthermore, the excess solar energy is sold to charge vehicles while customers use the self-service vacuum cleaners. This is also unique.
Redefining the Customer Experience
Richard’s vision extended well beyond machinery. Recognizing that lasting success depends on earning customer loyalty, he transformed Mr. Wash locations into genuine destinations. Amenities across the network include aesthetically and individually designed customer waiting areas with high-quality furnishings, art objects, a curated book exchange library and complimentary specialty coffee on Starbucks’ level.
Exterior customers are provided free of charge indoor and outdoor self-service vacuum stations. Richard was the first one who established individual mat machines on each vacuum place and created with this a positive company reputation.
“A customer recommends you because you have a mat cleaner at every place, not just at every other place,” is one of his typical quotes.
Richard Enning is a strong believer in brands. So, he created a special brand for his unlimited program called FLATWASH — a combination of flat rate and car wash. Today FLATWASH is the most successful subscription model for car wash in Germany.
But Enning has placed equal emphasis on the experience of his workforce. A vocal opponent of transactional approaches to people management, he has championed the idea that employees and customers deserve the same standard of respect and care. At his company HR stands for human relations instead of human resources. Above-average hourly wages and permanent employment contracts, birthday leave and a stable, family-oriented work culture reflect this philosophy in practice.
“What really drives me is the perspective of the customer. I’m a totally human relation-oriented person — the employees and the customers. You have to follow the same principles of friendliness and reliability no matter if it’s the customer or the employee. And if you follow this principle then you are really on the winning road. That is something that drives me every morning,” Enning recently told CAR WASH Magazine.
Beyond his own enterprise, Richard Enning has been a consistent advocate for raising standards across the car wash industry as a whole. He has freely shared operational best practices and embraced collaboration with peers, reflecting a belief that a stronger industry benefits everyone within it. This also was his credo when he was the first European president of the ICA in 2019.
About the ICA Hall of Fame
The ICA Hall of Fame recognizes individuals who have made extraordinary and lasting contributions to the professional car wash industry. Inductees are selected for their innovation, leadership, and the enduring impact of their work on the industry’s growth and reputation.
Be sure to celebrate the honor with the induction of Richard Enning of Mr. Wash AG into the industry’s highest honor: the Car Wash Hall of Fame. The ceremony will take place at The Car Wash Show 2026 on Tuesday, May 12, during the State of the Industry and Hall of Fame Induction starting at 10:00 a.m.
About ICA
International Carwash Association (ICA) is the nonprofit organization representing the car wash industry in the United States and uniting it around the world. Its members own, operate or support nearly every car wash business in dozens of countries. ICA offers the world’s largest car wash events and exhibitions, the leading online manager training program (LEAD™), news and inspiration through CAR WASH Magazine™ and a variety of industry research products (CAR WASH Pulse™). For more information about The Car Wash Show™, visit www.thecarwashshow.com.