HARD AT WORK ON THE SLOPES Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug’s PistenBully all-terrain vehicles and BeachTech machines can be found hard at work on the world’s ski slopes and beaches. Felicity Landon reports.
182 Industry Europe
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istenBully will have a wide range of its all-terrain vehicles on show at Interalpin 2011 in May. The market leader in the design and manufacture of vehicles for ski slope and trail preparation, in the past few years Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug has expanded significantly by buying and integrating two competitors. Further acquisitions are more than likely as the group continues to look for growth. The PistenBully made its debut more than 40 years ago, produced in 1969 by Karl Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke Ulm, at that time Germany’s largest producer of motor coaches and truck trailers. The 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo were a breakthrough event for Pisten-
Bully and within 10 years of the first model being produced, more than 2000 PistenBully vehicles had been sold in 35 countries. Headquartered in Laupheim since 2002, today’s company produces top model ski slope and cross-country track grooming vehicles, as well as its BeachTech vehicles for beach cleaning and grooming, and other vehicles for environmental and naturerelated applications. At Interalpin, Kässbohrer Geländefahrzeug will be showing off technical innovations such as the PistenBully EQ.2, the PistenBully 100, which now has a more powerful engine, and the PistenBully 600 W Polar, now even stronger and safer, thanks to a new 4.5-tonne