The company Pinguely-Haulotte was recently named the Haulotte Group in the year 2005. The name change was the first time within 124 years the name has not included Pinguely. The Haulotte Group is popular for manufacturing articulated work platforms, telescopic work platforms, vertical mast-work platforms, scissor lifts and trailer mounted work platforms.
The Haulotte Group obtained Bil-Jax, Inc. on July 24th, 2008. Bil-Jax is the biggest US scaffold manufacturer. At present, Haulotte Group has one plant in Spain, three plants in France, one plant in Romania, near the City of Pitesti. There is a new factory that opened during the winter of the year 2008. This plant is 1 km away from the existing plant near Pitesti within the County of Arges. The factory is called Arges II. There are also two factories in the USA, the former Bill-Jax.
Pinguely
The company was established during 1881 within Lyon, France by Alexandre Pinguely. The company first constructed steam engines. The company evolved into making equipment eventually. In the year 1892, they supplied a train to the Chemin de Fer de St Victor a Thizy.
The company provided 7 locomotives to the Voiron-Saint-Beron railway. Pinguely was not considered a major locomotive manufacturer in terms of numbers produced. The company supplied a steam locomotive to the Chemin de Fer du Haut-Rhone during 1930 and by 1932, Pinguely began manufacturing steam shovels. Production of steam locomotives was stopped and the company started concentrating instead on mobile cranes and making earthmoving equipment instead.
Haulotte
Arthur Hualotte established the beginnings of Haulotte in 1924, when it was known as Ateliers de Construction A. Haulotte. This business specialized in manufacturing derricks, aerial platforms and mobile cranes.
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 can focus on self-propelled aerial work platforms.