Behind any great success story you can find one strong, simple idea. One day in 1957, Marcel Braud, the founder of Manitou, thought up the principle of an original device.

Why not turn round the shape of a farm tractor and add to it a lifting mast and hydraulic steering?

Thus the world’s first rough-terrain forklift-truck was born. It proved the company’s success and led to it becoming world famous.

Now Manitou is based in Ancenis, in western France, and managed since 1998 by Marcel Claude BRAUD (son of the founder), has a consolidated turnover of 985.0 million euros in 2005.

With its 2,243 staff, seventeen subsidiaries and 500 points of sale throughout the globe, MANITOU is the world leader in rough-terrain forklift-trucks.

The prime reason for this success is the Group’s ability to offer every user the most relevant and reliable solution.

Today, MANITOU can offer the widest range on the market in three major sectors of activity:

• Building
• Agriculture
• Industries

The Manitou Group now has a presence in over 120 countries. North and South America, Japan, Australia and South America, Japan, Australia, and South Africa are all familiar with the MANITOU brand.