Paolo Merlo reappointed as Merlo chairman

The board of directors of the Merlo Group has reappointed Paolo Merlo as chairman, marking a sign of continuity to the path undertaken at the beginning of the year. The Group, has confirmed its industrial plan that is based on a clear vision and financial solidity. Merlo is aiming to strengthen its technological leadership in the engineering industry market, particularly in the telehandler segment, and to continue its growth on a national and international level. This represents a commitment that will continue under the banner of continuity of a company founded back in 1911 and that has never stopped growing ever since.

The Piedmont-based company is believed to be the first in Europe to manufacture the modern telehandler, initially in the construction and industrial sector and later also in the agricultural sector.

Today the presence of the Merlo Group, which includes nine specialised in-house companies, is guaranteed by a direct organisation of six branches – France, Germany, England, Spain, Poland and Australia and the USA – by a distribution network of over 80 importers and 600 dealers.

More than 90% of production is carried out at the San Defendente site, a rare feature in the industry, where control over the entire production process allows the company’s know-how to be developed and protected, guaranteeing a quality of supply that the world market continues to recognise and reward.

The goal for the next three years, confirmed by the renewed chairmanship, is to achieve 10 thousand telehandlers per year, as well as about 25 thousand pieces of equipment. To achieve this, significant investments are planned for the opening of both new production lines and new infrastructures, aimed at an increasingly efficient, technological and above all sustainable management and production system.

Development services for the interconnection of logistic flows with regular suppliers will also be enhanced, which will streamline and make the supply chain more efficient. The industrial objectives naturally intersect with one of the distinctive characteristics of the Merlo Group, which has been handed down from time immemorial, namely the focus on people, in terms of in-house workforce, but also with reference to the needs of distributors and end users, to whom many future initiatives will be dedicated.

Chairman, Paolo Merlo, said, “Today, the solidity of the Merlo Group allows us to look far ahead and plan for the long term. There are still many applications and areas where we can grow, we aim to strengthen our historical markets, starting with Italy and the countries where we are present with subsidiaries and importers. At the same time, we also intend to expand into markets that are relatively new to us, where there is still plenty of room for growth. In the USA we have just established our new subsidiary Merlo America and are strengthening our presence in Asia.