In the year 2005, the company Pinguely-Haulotte was renamed Haulotte Group. This change in name brought the end of the Pinguely name after 124 years! The Haulotte Group is known for manufacturing articulated work platforms, telescopic work platforms, scissor lifts, trailer mounted work platforms and vertical mast-work platforms.
On the 24th of July, 2008 the Haulotte Group obtained Bil-Jax, who was the US' largest scaffold manufacturer. Currently, Haulotte Group has one factory in Spain, three plants in France, one in Romania, near Pitesti City. There is a new factory that opened during the winter of 2008. This plant is only 1 km away from the existing plant near Pitesti City in Arges County. The factory is called Arges II. There are also two plants within the USA, the former Bill-Jax.
Pinguely
The company was established in the year 1881 in Lyon, France by Alexandre Pinguely. The company initially build steam engines. The business eventually evolved into making machinery. In the year 1892, they supplied a steam engine to the Chemin de Fer de St Victor a Thizy.
Pinguely supplied 7 locomotives to the Voiron-Saint-Beron railway. When it comes to numbers produced, Pinguely was not a main locomotive manufacturer. The company provided a steam locomotive to the Chemin de Fer du Haut-Rhone in the year 1930 and by 1932, Pinguely started manufacturing steam shovels. Steam locomotive production was stopped and the company began concentrating instead on mobile cranes and manufacturing earthmoving machines instead.
Haulotte
Arthur Hualotte established the beginnings of Haulotte in the year 1924, when it was referred to as Ateliers de Construction A. Haulotte. This business specialized in the production of aerial platforms, mobile cranes and derricks.
Pinguely-Haulotte
It was decided that the actual manufacturing was to be sub-contracted to Pinguely-Haulotte. They were to be responsible for the engineering and marketing, design, research and development. All products were abandoned by Saubot so that the company could focus on self-propelled aerial work platforms.