During 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, trailer mounted work platforms, vertical mast-work platforms and scissor lifts.
The Haulotte Group obtained Bil-Jax, Inc. on July 24th, the year 2008. Bil-Jax is the biggest US scaffold manufacturer. Now, Haulotte Group has one plant in Spain, three plants in France, one in Romania, near the City of Pitesti. There is a new factory that opened in the winter of 2008. This factory is only 1 km away from the existing factory near Pitesti City in Arges County. The plant is known as Arges II. There are also two factories within the United States, the former Bill-Jax.
Pinguely
The company was formed in the year 1881 in Lyon, France by Alexandre Pinguely. The company initially build 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 steam engines to the Voiron-Saint-Beron railway. Pinguely was not considered a main steam engine manufacturer in terms of numbers produced. The company supplied a steam locomotive to the Chemin de Fer du Haut-Rhone in 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 machinery instead.
Haulotte
Arthur Hualotte formed the beginnings of Haulotte in 1924, when it was known as Ateliers de Construction A. Haulotte. This business 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 business could focus on self-propelled aerial work platforms.