During 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, vertical mast-work platforms, scissor lifts and trailer mounted work platforms.
The Haulotte Group acquired Bil-Jax, Inc. on July 24th, 2008. Bil-Jax is the biggest US scaffold manufacturer. Now, Haulotte Group has one factory in Spain, three factories in France, one plant in Romania, near the City of Pitesti. There is a new plant which opened during the winter of the year 2008. This plant is 1 km away from the existing factory near the city of Pitesti within Arges County. The factory is called Arges II. There are also two plants within the United States, the former Bill-Jax.
Pinguely
The company was formed during 1881 in Lyon, France by Alexandre Pinguely. The company first build steam engines. The business eventually evolved into making equipment. During 1892, they supplied a locomotive to the Chemin de Fer de St Victor a Thizy.
The company provided 7 steam engines to the Voiron-Saint-Beron railway. Pinguely was not considered a main steam engine manufacturer when it comes to numbers produced. The company supplied a steam locomotive to the Chemin de Fer du Haut-Rhone in 1930 and by the year 1932, Pinguely started manufacturing steam shovels. Steam locomotive production was stopped and the company started focusing instead on mobile cranes and manufacturing earthmoving machines instead.
Haulotte
Arthur Hualotte established the beginnings of Haulotte in 1924, when it was called Ateliers de Construction A. Haulotte. This company specialized in manufacturing 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 marketing and engineering, design, research and development. All products were abandoned by Saubot so that the company could focus on self-propelled aerial work platforms.