In memoriam: Marcel Braud

The France-based Manitou Group has announced that its founder and honorary board chair Marcel Braud died in early February at age 93.

“It is with profound emotion and immense sadness that Manitou Group announces the passing of Marcel Braud,” the company says, crediting Braud with having transformed a family business into a global benchmark for material handling, aerial work platforms and earthmoving equipment.

Manitou Group says Braud was driven by a passion for innovation, industry, its dealers network and the group’s products. He served as the company’s board chair until 2017.

“Fatherless at the age of 13, he joined the family business, Braud Mécanique Générale, at the request and by the side of his mother, Andrée Braud, following World War II,” the company says.

Braud worked his way through jobs as a laborer, painter, welder, assembler and foreman and, according to Manitou, mastered every production role within the company.

"[In 1958, he] imagined the improbable: inverting the layout of a farm tractor to add a lifting mast and power steering: The ‘Manitou was born,” the company says. “This simple yet revolutionary idea would travel the globe, transforming construction sites, farms and industrial market[s] forever.”

Within the company for which he worked, Braud held positions including workshop manager and purchasing manager, before becoming board chair and CEO in 1970, retaining the CEO title until 2007.

“Marcel Braud was an extraordinary man and entrepreneur,” Manitou President and CEO Michel Denis says. “Throughout the decades spent at the head of the group, he created exceptional products, experiences and solutions with pride and perseverance. The management team and all 6,000 employees join in the grief of his family and loved ones.”

“My brother dedicated his life to Manitou Group; thanks to him, our small family business became an international leader, recognized for its products, values and innovation,” ads Jacqueline Himsworth, current board chair of Manitou Group. “We are losing a visionary, but his entrepreneurial spirit continues to guide our course. Marcel-Claude Braud, Sébastien Braud and Emilie Braud, board members of Manitou Group, join me in sharing our profound grief.”