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 popular for making articulated work platforms, telescopic work platforms, vertical mast-work platforms, scissor lifts and trailer mounted work platforms.
On the 24th of July, the year 2008 the Haulotte Group acquired Bil-Jax, who was the US' biggest scaffold manufacturer. Now, Haulotte Group has one plant in Spain, three factories in France, one in Romania, near Pitesti City. There is a new factory which opened in the winter of 2008. This plant is just 1 km away from the existing plant near Pitesti within the County of Arges. The factory is known as Arges II. There are also two factories in the USA, the former Bill-Jax.
Pinguely
The company was established in the year 1881 in Lyon, France by Alexandre Pinguely. The company first build steam locomotives. The company eventually evolved into making equipment. In the year 1892, they provided a locomotive 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 main locomotive manufacturer in terms of numbers produced. The company supplied a steam train to the Chemin de Fer du Haut-Rhone during the year 1930 and by the year 1932, Pinguely started making steam shovels. Steam locomotive production was stopped and the company began concentrating instead on mobile cranes and making earthmoving machines instead.
Haulotte
Arthur Hualotte formed the beginnings of Haulotte during 1924, when it was called Ateliers de Construction A. Haulotte. This business specialized in the production of derricks, aerial platforms and mobile cranes.
Pinguely-Haulotte
Manufacturing it was decided to be sub-contracted to Pinguely-Haulotte, who was 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.