• Palfinger Platforms Italy will operate in the mid-market segment
for small trucks
• Joint venture with Sky Aces Srl. headquartered in Bolzano
• Intensive development of the Italian market
The PALFINGER Group is establishing Palfinger Platforms Italy Srl., a joint venture with headquarters in Bolzano, Italy. The company, in which PALFINGER holds a majority, will specialize in the development, production and distribution of access platforms. The objective is to open up the high-volume market segment for trucks of up to 3.5 tonnes through the manufacture of reasonably priced truck bodies with easy-to-use technology. The minority shareholder is Sky Aces Srl., an Italian company founded in 2012, whose product programme currently includes two solutions for tunnel maintenance. The existing operating business of Sky Aces will be transferred to the new company.
Palfinger Platforms Italy will expand the existing product portfolio of PALFINGER access platforms. While PALFINGER is currently operating exclusively in the high-end segment, the new products are intended to open up the mid-market segment, which is many times larger. In this segment, cost-efficient, standardized access platforms are mounted on trucks registered for up to 3.5 tonnes, which are in demand primarily by municipalities, energy supply companies, infrastructure providers and rental companies. The equipment, which is characterized by its ease of operation and control, will also feature the proven quality of PALFINGER products.
Palfinger Platforms Italy will distribute the entire access platform programme of PALFINGER in Italy, and the equipment manufactured in Italy will be distributed through the PALFINGER sales network, for the time being only in Europe and subsequently also in the other markets.
"We are pursuing two objectives with this joint venture: First, we want to open up the large and strongly growing market segment of access platforms for use on smaller trucks in the field of infrastructure preservation and maintenance. Second, through Palfinger Platforms Italy, we are planning to intensively develop the Italian market, which is of importance to us," explains Herbert Ortner, CEO of the PALFINGER AG, commenting on the reasons for this step.