History
In 1888, Gabriel Leitner established the business, specializing in farm machinery, ropeways for material transportation, waterwheels and sawmills. In 1925, the company grew from a workshop employing 10 employees to a factory to produce agricultural machinery. In 1947, the company build its first chairlift in Corvara, Italy. In 1970, agricultural machinery production ceased and was replaced by snow groomer engineering. In 1980 a production plant was built. In 1983, the company developed a detachable grip for chairlifts and gondola lifts. In 1985, the first detachable gondola lifts were made in Brunico and Valtournenche, Italy. The first 4-seater chair was made in Obereggen, Italy.
In the 1990s, after a period of difficulty that led Michael Seeber to acquire the stake of the two Leitner brothers, nephews of the founder,[5] and to relaunch the company,[3] the first foreign subsidiaries were created.
In 1999, the company acquired the ropeway division of Waagner-Biro.
In 2000 the company took control of the French group Poma (Pomagalski). The technical evolution of cableway systems, with the introduction of detachable grip systems in 1983, opened new possibilities for the development of innovative urban transport systems, such as the Minimetrò of Perugia, an urban hectometric cable railway transport system. Also in 2000 its division for snow groomer vehicles merged with the historic Gardena-based company Prinoth, founded by Ernesto Prinoth.[6]
In 2003, a company-wide reorganization resulted in the Leitner Group being formed. In the same year, the Leitwind wind turbine was released. In 2008 the MiniMetro was first built in Perugia, Italy.[7] In 2009, Leitner produced the company's first tricable gondola lift.
On 23 May 2009, the company completed the restoration of, and inaugurated, the Renon cable car.[8]
Since 2011, together with affiliated companies Prinoth[6] and Demaclenko[9], the Leitner Group has presented itself as the only supplier in the world capable of offering a complete range of winter technologies. In November 2012 Leitner, together with BMW, designed a luxury cabin for the cable car of the Hochzillertal ski area in Austria. Inside there are leather interiors, cup holders and touch-screen displays.[10]
In 2015 Leitner completed the corporate merger with Agudio S.p.A., a historic Italian cableway company founded by Tommaso Agudio.[11] In 2016 leadership passed from Michael to his son Anton, who studied at Bocconi University and had experience in the United States in private equity.[3]
In 2018 the company built around one hundred cableway installations, including the urban cable car in Santo Domingo[12] and the one on the Klein Matterhorn, whose upper station at 4,000 metres is the highest in Europe.[3]
Agudio
Originally founded in 1861, Agudio was later acquired by Leitner Ropeways. In 2015, Agudio was integrated into Leitner Ropeways, however, the brand was retained.
