Sitting on a little more than 50 acres in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy is Magni Telescopic Handlers' newly constructed, state-of-the-art facility where the company's telehandlers are manufactured. These multi-tool, multi-application machines are distributed around the globe and utilized by a variety of industries.
This summer, Heavy Equipment Guide was fortunate enough to be invited to visit Magni's headquarters. The facility, which was completed in May 2021, features almost 500,000 square feet of manufacturing, testing, storage, and office space. Carefully designed with sustainability and social responsibility in mind, the plant generates 1,000 megawatt-hours of solar energy every year, which meets about 25 percent of the facility's overall energy needs. The trip certainly did not disappoint as I was introduced to the vibrant culture of this rapidly growing company and its more than 600 employees led by the founder, Mr. Riccardo Magni.
Although Magni Telescopic Handlers was founded in 2013, its roots go back to post-WW2 and Riccardo Magni's father, Pietro Magni, who worked as a mechanic. The Magni family comes from the "Motor Valley" of Italy, the home of many well-recognized motoring brands, including Lamborghini, Maserati, Ferrari, and Ducati, but the Magni family had an agricultural background.
Pietro wanted to pursue something more in line with his own personal passion: the automotive industry. Pietro started by purchasing trucks and machinery that had been left behind by the U.S. and Allied forces after the war. He used the parts and components of these machines to build and repair tractors. This venture began to grow, and he applied his knowledge to developing parts and retrofitting tower cranes for a company in the area. He eventually decided to sell this company and create a new one. This was a turning point for the Magni family. In 1972, Pietro, along with his children, including Riccardo, founded the equipment company Fargh SpA in Castelfranco Emilia — where Magni Telescopic Handlers is headquartered today.
Pietro started developing hydraulic cranes of his own for Fargh SpA before creating the company's first telehandler for a construction company in Modena, Italy, in 1980. At the time, telehandlers were not well known in the region. Unfortunately, in October 1981, Pietro Magni passed away. The leadership of the company then transitioned to Riccardo Magni.
Riccardo Magni had begun his career as a lawyer, but his passion, like his father's, was in engineering mechanics and building machinery.
"My passion from the very beginning, from when I was very very young, was mechanics," Magni said. "I was living in a family where we were building, fixing, and engineering every day. As a matter of fact, almost all the machines that we have now, I designed. I generally don't design a machine that the market expects. I do just the opposite — I design the machine and I propose it to the market."
In 1982, at age 29, Magni met with Manitou founder Marcel Braud and started a long relationship and collaboration between the two companies where he led the development of telehandlers for Manitou. In 1985, Manitou purchased 51 percent of Fargh SpA.
The Manitou-Fargh collaboration, which became the company Manitou Italy, continued for over 27 years until 2008 when Magni decided to part ways with the Manitou organization, no longer approving of the direction of the company.
His departure was finalized in 2009, and, after a three-year noncompete agreement expired, Magni, along with his four children, founded Magni Telescopic Handlers SRL in January 2013. Magni was looking to once again showcase the family's extensive knowledge and experience in the telehandler space. He started by introducing two rotating telehandlers: the RTH 4.22 and the RTH 4.26.
"I wanted to show what we are able to do," Magni said. "And I wanted to leave my children with our family business."
By 2015, the new company offered 21 telehandler models across three product categories: Rotating Telehandlers (RTH), Heavy Lift Telehandlers (HTH), and Fixed Boom Telehandlers (TH). In 2016, Magni introduced the RTH 6.46 SH which held the title as the highest-reaching rotating telehandler until 2020, when Magni introduced the RTH 6.51 SH. The RTH 13.26, introduced in 2019, is still the highest-capacity rotating telehandler on the market.
"We wanted to make the highest-performing rotating machines, which weren't common, using our knowledge. This was our competitive advantage," said Magni.
By the late 2010s, the company had turned its focus to expanding globally by establishing subsidiaries in France, Germany, the U.K., Poland, Belgium, South Africa, the U.S., and two representative offices in Southeast Asia and Central-South America. These subsidiaries were set up to support the network of over 200 dealers serving 63 markets worldwide. In Canada, Magni telehandlers are distributed through a dealer network that includes Stanmore Equipment and Cropac Equipment; with six dealers, Magni TH is able to cover Eastern and Western Canada.
But, impressively, major growth began to take shape in 2021. Starting that year, the company accelerated to levels it had not previously seen, while many in the industry were hard hit by COVID-19 pandemic challenges. Magni's growth trend continued year-over-year until 2023 when the company tripled its revenues from three years earlier.
When I asked Magni how the company was able to sustain such growth during a time of challenges relating to parts and components shortages, which were widely felt during the COVID-19 pandemic, he replied, "We were lucky as our new facility was finalized and ready in May 2021. We had followed the market and could see the market changing rapidly, so we took advantage of our new facility and space by ordering a great number of parts early on."
He also highlighted the company's strong partnerships with its suppliers, which helped along the way, and are what he considers to be the Magni advantage. These include Liebherr (which supplies rotating components), as well as Deutz Engines, Volvo Penta Engines, SSAB High Strength Steel, Dana, and others.
"When it comes to winning points [with customers]," he said, "I would have to point to our cab: the shape, visibility, space, comfort, and touchscreen technology. It is also hermetically sealed for sound and dust insulation. We have a terrific cab. Now we see many competitors following our design, which is flattering. Currently we hold 115 patents."
In 2025, Magni Telescopic Handlers' full equipment lineup includes 20 RTH models, 16 TH models, 9 HTH models, and 8 THA models developed for agriculture.
While the company is best-known for its larger, high-reaching machines, at bauma 2025 Magni displayed its most compact telehandler, the recently introduced TH 3.6, which is equipped with a new compact cab that gives the operator total visibility. A 7-inch touchscreen with the Magni Combi Touch System (MCTS) on-board software grants complete control of the machine for a unique user experience via icon-based navigation. In addition, the TH 3.6 is outfitted with Load Moment Indicator (LMI), a sophisticated and precise anti-tipping system that provides constant monitoring of the vehicle's movement to avoid any kind of overloading.
He concluded the visit with his thoughts on the future and the direction of the company. "There are many things that we are doing," said Magni. "For starters, we will be launching our first fully electric machines later this year. This is our entry into this space with four models including an electrified version of the TH 3.6. This will complement our dual-power offerings and will work well in certain applications.
"Though we are not so sure about a fully electric future, some of our customers have asked for this solution and we will provide [it to] them."
After nearly 50 years of championing telehandlers around the world, Riccardo Magni would like to continue to lead and expand Magni's footprint globally. When asked if he will wind down his career, he said, "I know this industry very well. Though I enjoy riding my motorcycles when I'm not running the business, I would very much like to stay involved. My son Carlo Magni, who is currently vice president of the company, is likely to take on more responsibility in the coming years."
Magni telehandlers will be showcased at two North American trade shows, including at The ARA Show and CONEXPO-CON/ AGG, early in 2026.
This article originally appeared in the October 2025 issue of Heavy Equipment Guide.
Via Magellano, 22
Castelfranco Emilia (MO),
IT, 41013
Website:
magnith.com/en-US