During 2005, the company Pinguely-Haulotte was renamed Haulotte Group. This name change brought the end of the Pinguely name after 124 years! The Haulotte Group is popular for manufacturing telescopic work platforms, articulated work platforms, trailer mounted work platforms, vertical mast-work platforms and scissor lifts.
On the 24th of July, the year 2008 the Haulotte Group obtained Bil-Jax, who was the US' largest scaffold manufacturer. Currently, Haulotte Group has three factories in France, one plant in Spain, one plant in Romania, near Pitesti City. There is a new factory that opened in the winter of the year 2008. This plant is only 1 km away from the existing plant near the city of Pitesti within the County of Arges. The plant is referred to as Arges II. There are also two plants within the United States, the former Bill-Jax.
Pinguely
Alexandre Pinguely formed the Pinguely Company during 1881 in Lyon, France. At first, they built steam locomotives. The company eventually evolved into making machines. In 1892, they supplied a locomotive to the Chemin de Fer de St Victor a Thizy.
Pinguely provided 7 steam engines to the Voiron-Saint-Beron railway. In terms of numbers produced, Pinguely was not a major locomotive manufacturer. The company supplied a steam locomotive to the Chemin de Fer du Haut-Rhone in 1930 and by the year 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
In the year 1924, Haulotte was established in L'Horme by Arthur Haulotte. The company was referred to as Ateliers de Construction A. Haulotte. This company specialized in manufacturing mobile cranes, derricks and aerial platforms.
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, research, design and development. All products were abandoned by Saubot so that the business could concentrate on self-propelled aerial work platforms.