Manitou Group and Kiloutou: exclusive partnership agreement!

Manitou Group and Kiloutou signed an exclusive partnership agreement on their first retrofit project.

Manitou Group, a world reference in the handling, aerial work platform and earth-moving sectors, announces that it has signed an exclusive 12-month partnership agreement with Kiloutou, a major player in Europe’s equipment rental sector, to offer electrification kits for Manitou’s used internal-combustion-engine telehandler. Retrofitting these machines will extend their useful life while reducing their environmental impact, in particular their carbon emissions, in accordance with the commitments that both groups have made in their respective CSR roadmaps.

Manitou Group and Kiloutou Group, which are both aware of the advantages of constantly optimizing the durability of their machinery and equipment, are teaming up to start the first heavy-equipment retrofit project involving a manufacturer and a rental company. This project, which will roll out over the next two years, is aimed at testing the technical and economic feasibility of electrifying telehandlers initially designed and marketed with internal combustion engines. The first phase of the test is being carried out on a high lifting height telehandler demonstrator in Kiloutou’s rental fleet. During 2023, this internal-combustion telehandler will be dismantled and reassembled with an electrification kit at Manitou Group’s production plant in Ancenis, then tested in real-life conditions at Kiloutou’s test center near Lille. After the machine clears the test, Manitou Group will be in a position to offer electrification kits for machines refurbished using new or pre-owned parts, exclusively to Kiloutou Group. This distribution will be carried out for a period of 12 months from the beginning of 2024, on several machines in Kiloutou's fleet. These kits comprise several components including a lithium-ion battery, and open the door to switching from internal combustion engines to extremely low-carbon full-electric motors.

Michel Denis, President & CEO of Manitou Group, spoke about the advantages of this team project: “We are currently rolling out our choice of low-emissions machines in our Oxygen range. We were also looking for an alternative to our internal-combustion machines that are already in operation, to take the next step in this direction. Kiloutou is particularly open to this kind of solutions, so we will be working together to create retrofit kits. The goal is to extend our products’ useful life and at the same time shrink our carbon footprint.”

Most of the retrofitting work in this partnership will involve machines that Kiloutou has had in its rental fleet for about five years. This option addresses the need to speed up the transition to lower-carbon machinery. By extending the useful life of equipment that is otherwise fully operational, retrofits combine sustainability and circularity. Once they have been retrofitted with electrification kits, the revamped machines will be included in the Impakt range of environmentally-friendly alternatives, and be available in Kiloutou branches in France.

François Renault, Group Fleet and Sustainability Director of Kiloutou Group, adds, “At Kiloutou we firmly believe that decarbonizing the construction and civil engineering sector will take a team effort. This project with Manitou Group is that principle in practice and shows that we are committed to the same goals. The possibility of giving machines in our fleet a second life, and lowering their emissions, is a key lever in our drive to reduce our indirect emissions. We are working particularly hard these days to fast-track this circular-economy solution".