A final joint works meeting with around 2000 employees. "Ambitious goals" are presented for Magirus, Iveco plans to invest 20 million euros in a hall for the electric truck.
By Michael Kroha
21.05.25, 02:17 a.m.
For 50 years, the long-established Ulm-based company Magirus and the Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco belonged together. In the summer of 2023, however, the end was announced. Since the turn of the year, the takeover of the manufacturer of fire engines and turntable ladders by the new owner, the listed private equity holding company Mutares headquartered in Munich, has been completed. This Tuesday, the Iveco Magirus workforce held a final joint works meeting in the Danube valley in Ulm. For around three and a half hours, some 2000 employees discussed the future of the Magirus and Iveco sites in Ulm.
Mutares has set "ambitious goals" for its new subsidiary, according to a press release sent out afterwards. According to the press release, annual turnover is to double to over 750 million euros by 2030. In 2023, it was still around 300 million. This is to be made possible by a "comprehensive transformation plan", which essentially comprises ten points.
Magirus Defense: New division for civilian and military special vehicles
These include international expansion through the establishment of national subsidiaries in Switzerland, Spain, Poland and the United Arab Emirates. The company is also aiming to "optimize its corporate structure through the targeted reduction of other operating expenses". In addition, a new division, Magirus Defense, is to be established. This is a reaction to the new threat situation and thus the increased demand in the military sector, which also requires special fire fighting vehicles. A service that Magirus already provides, but now wants to offer even more intensively and competitively. Furthermore, the "Dragon", the special vehicle for airports and large-scale firefighting, is to be further developed.
According to the Group, the order backlog at Magirus is at a "historic high". Incoming orders are currently around 30 percent higher than in 2024, reports Thomas Hilse, still Managing Director of Magirus GmbH, in an interview with our editorial team. Hilse will move to the Supervisory Board on July 1, 2025. He will be replaced by Fatmir Veselaj, previously Chief Restructuring Officer, who will assume operational responsibility for the long-established Ulm-based company.
Magirus plans to increase the production of fire department turntable ladders from 200 to 350 units
An "innovation offensive" has been announced in the area of turntable ladders and fire-fighting vehicles. Instead of the 200 to 220 turntable ladders manufactured in Ulm to date, the aim is to produce 350 per year in future. Plus around 1000 fire engines. Around 300 are currently manufactured in the Danube Valley. How the new specified figures will affect the respective production sites remains to be seen. The takeover of companies in Romania and Croatia, which previously served as an "extended workbench", is intended to make production "more cost-efficient".
However, this should not have any impact on Ulm and the approximately 1000 employees there. "We are focusing on Ulm," says Hilse. Wilfried Schmid, Chairman of the Group Works Council at Iveco Magirus AG, also rates the concept presented as "fundamentally positive" because "a plan for the future" has been presented as to how Magirus could develop. There are no plans for redundancies. The company will have to "reorganize to some extent", "but not in a critical area". A partial retirement program has been set up. However, the jobs will "not be changed" for the time being.
In case of doubt, however, work will probably not run out in the immediate vicinity either. Because there was not only news for Magirus employees. Iveco also announced investments at the meeting, reports Works Council Chairman Schmid. In addition to the existing large production hall, a further new hall costing around 20 million euros is planned for the production of the electric truck. The electric series is set to go into series production from the fourth quarter. The large parking lot is also to be rebuilt from this summer at a cost of around one million euros.
