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A family-owned group
A human adventure above all
135 ans d'histoire Gruau
Our work as a coachbuilder is fascinating, as it is linked to the ever-changing automotive world and because it has always undergone major developments.
- Developments driven by innovation and technology
- Developments driven by lifestyles and customs
- Developments driven by the urbanisation of regions and countries
Today more than ever, the light commercial vehicle is closely connected to the urban world and its distribution requirements.
Present in all niche markets in the light commercial vehicle sector, Groupe Gruau is organised around two major divisions: Urban Mobility and Medical Vehicles, to provide the best transport solutions for our private and public customers.
137 years of history in pictures: discover the Group as told by Patrick Gruau, the company’s 5th captain.
René Le Godais
René Le Godais
(1839-1911)
Born into a family of woodcutters who became wheelwrights as early as 1830, René Le Godais leaves the family business based in Ernée (53). In 1889, he settles in Laval with a few companions. He sets up his own business manufacturing carts in front of the fairground and equips it with an exhibition window. He would pass on his keen sense of business to his son, also named René. More than 10,000 carts would leave the Le Godais workshops. This Laval location is the historic reference point for the creation of the company.
René Le Godais Junior
René Le Godais Junior
(1881-1925)
Succeeding his father, René continued the expansion of the family business. He welcomed many companions and apprentices, including a certain Marius Gruau, himself from a line of wheelwrights originally from Maisoncelles (53). René died suddenly at the age of 44. Five years later, René’s widow called back Marius, who took charge of the coachbuilding business. Sometime later, Marius married Angèle, the only daughter of René and his wife, Louise.
On the road to industrialisation
The emergence of an industrial leader
Marius Gruau
Marius Gruau
(1906-1994)
Noticing that car manufacturers were not meeting all customer needs, Marius Gruau, who joined the company in 1929, began transforming and fitting out vehicles. Founded in 1933, the Gruau coachworks designed and built bodies for passenger cars, as well as vans, coaches, heavy goods vehicles, semi-trailers, and livestock trucks. By winning a major order for 250 coaches for the army, Gruau moved from craftsmanship to an industrial scale.
René Gruau
René Gruau
(1932-1984)
By securing a major order for 250 coaches for the Air Force, Gruau moved permanently in 1955 from a craft-based activity to an industrial dimension. René Gruau, son of Marius, created the design office necessary to fulfill this major contract.
Export success, moving from Rue Lemercier de Neuville to Rue du Ponceau in Laval… Gruau’s reputation then spread to the western half of France, and the regional generalist coachbuilder worked mainly with two car manufacturers: Citroën and Saviem-Berliet. René Gruau consolidated the industrial expansion of the site, which moved to Saint-Berthevin (1969). He gradually focused Gruau on light commercial vehicles and developed partnerships with brands.
Sustainability and development
Leadership rooted in the Group’s human values
Patrick Gruau
Patrick Gruau
(since 1984)
Joining the company in 1980, Patrick, René’s eldest son, was tasked with developing Gruau in eastern France and the Île-de-France region. Upon his father’s sudden death in 1984, he took over the reins of the company at the age of 28, thanks to the trust of his family and senior executives. Inspired by several study trips to Japan and then the United States, he implemented a Total Quality approach driven by participative management and launched his first corporate project in 1988.
Patrick developed external growth starting in 1987 and more intensely from the mid-90s. The group became multi-specialist, multi-site, and multi-manufacturer, positioning itself by the early 2000s as the European No. 1 in Light Commercial Vehicle Coachbuilding.
Diversification and external growth
Between acquisitions and new locations
To diversify its markets, get closer to its customers and strengthen the longevity of the group, Patrick Gruau chose to acquire several coachbuilding companies. In order to secure new markets with manufacturers in particular, new sites were also established.
1995 inauguration Gruau Paris
1987
Gruau establishes itself in the Paris region
For its first external growth operation, Gruau bought the family business Enac-Sapa from Christian Girardière, located in Gennevilliers, northwest of the capital.
With a workforce of 45 employees, Enac-Sapa transformed vehicles from Citroën, Ford, and VAG. Gruau moved closer to major contractors and now had a showcase to display its expertise. Renamed Gruau Paris and moved to modern premises, expanded in May 1995, the company became the group’s lead site, particularly for the assembly of bodywork kits, a new service designed by Gruau Laval that led to the creation of the Gruau Network.
1992 Inauguration Gruau St Etienne La Talaudière
1991
Gruau expands its expertise
After the Paris region, the Rhône-Alpes region was targeted with the acquisition of the Ducarme company in Saint-Etienne. Bernard Ducarme, a close friend of the Gruau family, handed over his family business specializing in funeral vehicles.
At the time of its acquisition, it was manufacturing seventy per year, mainly for the local market. This was an opportunity for the Mayenne-based company to get a first foot in the door of medical vehicles and to develop innovation in a field strongly linked to customs and traditions: Ducarme would thus produce the first MPV-style hearse, named the Rivage. Today, more than 300 Ducarme funeral vehicles are produced each year. Since 2022, Ducarme’s funeral activity has joined the group’s Normandy site in Argentan.
1995 Isotherme Citroën C15
1995
Agathon-Désile joins Gruau
In April, the Le Mans-based company Desile-Agathon, specializing in isothermal vehicles under the Isberg brand, joined the group. This century-old company, led by Bernard Agathon, possessed valuable skills for the group, notably the manufacture of composite panels and a high-potential site well-located in Le Mans and close to Laval.
A new industrial organization was put in place between the two sites: Isberg vehicles were transferred to Laval, and all specific vehicles from the Mayenne site were concentrated at Gruau Le Mans.
1995 Achat Picot
1995
Picot joins Gruau
On August 2, the Picot company near Savigny-les-Beaune joined the group. Acquired from Jean-Claude Picot, it designs and manufactures ‘red’ medical vehicles, in other words, ambulances for firefighters and a whole range of other first-response fire vehicles.
The local workforce, more focused on viticulture, eventually outweighed the group’s efforts to sustain the activity, which was gradually transferred to Gruau Tours within a more industrial context.
1998 Inauguration de Gruau Lorraine
1998
Creation of Gruau Lorraine
By winning a first tender for Renault, Gruau built a new ‘end-of-line’ factory in Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes, near Metz, in the immediate vicinity of the Renault Batilly site. In a brand-new building inaugurated in June, Gruau converted 9 and 16-seater minibuses from Master-type vehicles.
Several productions followed, specializing this site in small-series subcontracting for Renault and, given its great flexibility, in the production of Key Account fleets for all activities of the group’s other sites. Gruau Lorraine also developed a local activity for assembling kit products for the local Lorraine market.
2001 Achat SANICAR
2001
Strengthening the medical division
Sanicar, based in Grenoble, joined the Gruau scope. A former subsidiary of Renault Véhicules Industriels with 34 employees, the company was taken over by Jean Chabanel. It manufactures red and white ambulances under the Sanicar brand, a well-known brand in France and also in Maghreb countries, particularly for its Renault-based conversions.
It allowed the Gruau Group to continue its progress in the medical vehicle market, as did the Petit company, acquired simultaneously. In 2021, Sanicar took the name Gruau Grenoble, and the brand was retained on the ambulances.
2001 ambulance blanche SAMU Petit
2001
Development of the ambulance activity
Petit joins the Group. The family business is then run by the founder’s son, Patrick Petit, a member of the French Bodywork Federation and a long-standing friend of Patrick Gruau. Upon retiring, he hands over his company, which specializes in private ambulances and in the Citroën, Peugeot and Fiat brands, to the Mayenne-based Group.
A partner of the Tour de France cycling race, Patrick Petit passed this contract to the Gruau Group, which continues its sponsorship with Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) today. Gruau Tours thus provides ambulances every year for the medical team of the Tour de France and other cycling events organized by ASO. A true enthusiast, Patrick Petit now looks after his remarkable museum of ambulances and assistance vehicles.
2003 les premières flottes de véhicules captées pour le marché. Ici, quatre-vingt-six véhicules de transport de fonds et de colis pour la Poste nationale de Pologne.
2001
Towards the Polish market
Gruau Polska was born from Renault’s frustration at not having quality conversions for its vehicles in Poland. The manufacturer thus called on Gruau to train Polish coachbuilders. Rather than just training, Gruau preferred to study establishing its own presence to invest in this market of 40 million inhabitants at the time. Yvon Peurou and Éric Gruau opted to recruit a Franco-Polish director, Boguslaw Mazur, who is still active. The first site was created in the center of the country in an area where labor was abundant. A second factory was established in Wola, south of Warsaw, in 2012, near manufacturers and logistics providers.
Gruau Polska now consists of around a hundred employees. It has developed a complete range of products dedicated to the Polish market and export, in collaboration with Gruau Le Mans for the French construction market.
2002
A new lease of life for Labbé
Located in Lamballe (Côtes-d’Armor) since its creation in 1948, Labbé enjoyed a great family era with its founder Fernand Labbé and his two sons, Benoît and Pierre. After a difficult period and a stint with American shareholders, Labbé regained its stability. Its two specialties were split: the Armored Department was sold, while the Large-Volume Van Department found a family group and a sustainable project with Gruau.
Philippe Quintin, the salaried manager at the time, was the linchpin of this merger with Patrick Gruau.
Having become the French number one in large-volume vans, after twenty-two years within the Gruau Group, Labbé employs 200 people and manufactures nearly 4,000 vans per year.
Le Bluebus : un véhicule innovant, propre, accessible à tous, en toutes circonstances.
2008
Gruau electrifies urban transport
After developing the Microbus alone, a new urban collective transport solution, Gruau partnered with the Bolloré group in a 50/50 joint venture to deploy a 100% electric version renamed Bluebus. Gruau provided its expertise in bus construction and its electric powertrain, and Bolloré, a new entrant to the market after its Bluecar experience, installed its new lithium-ion-polymer batteries, making this mobility solution unique in France.
In 2013, in accordance with their agreements, Bolloré bought out Gruau’s shares and production was gradually transferred to Bolloré’s new industrial site in Ergué-Gabéric. The Breton industrialist invested heavily and expanded its 100% electric bus offering by sustaining the Bluebus range. Gruau, for its part, focused exclusively on its core business as a coachbuilder. A great adventure between two industrialists.
2010
Gifa and Collet consolidate leadership
The companies Gifa-Collet and Cogicar based in Orne and Vendée joined the Gruau Group. Spin-offs from the Heuliez group, Gifa and Cogicar specialized in ambulances, while Collet was originally a family business specialized in ambulances and funeral vehicles. The companies were acquired from Jean Caghassi after ten years of discussions with Patrick Gruau.
The Mayenne-based group, number two in France for medical vehicles, thus acquired the market leader.
To date, the group is the leader in France. The Gifa and Collet brands have been retained and are grouped within the same structure, Gruau Vendée, which employs 145 people between Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvres and Argentan.
2013
Lanéry joins Gruau
Gruau invested in Greater Lyon, a historic land of coachbuilders, by acquiring the Lanéry company.
Lanéry offers other skills such as expertise in specific vehicles for firefighters.
The brand will therefore be retained for these specific vehicles, while the company, renamed Gruau Lyon, now deploys other complementary and traditional Gruau activities (crew cabs, isothermal vehicles, etc.) in its local market.
57 employees are working there.
2016 Partenariat Sortimo
2016
Sortimo: a strategic partnership
Gruau created a joint venture with Sortimo, one of the world leaders in vehicle racking and load-securing systems. All products offered are compatible with each other. Gruau can thus distribute high-quality (German) complementary fittings. Sortimo is developing its network in France and gaining access to the key account customers of the European leader in light commercial vehicle coachbuilding.
A great Franco-German alliance
The company Sortimo by Gruau has its own site in the Paris region, a distribution network, and sales advisors available to professionals who buy either directly or via the internet.
2017 Opération croissance externe Onnicar
2017
Gruau expands into Italy
Laura Francone led the family company created by her father, the Italian coachbuilder Onnicar, a prosperous business specializing in aluminum tippers and vans ‘tuttoinlega‘ (all-alloy). On the verge of retirement, Laura chose to sell not to an Italian competitor but to a group that sustains and develops companies. This is how she targeted Gruau. In three months, the sale was organized and the transition prepared with Laura’s right-hand man, Dario Bianchi, the current manager. The company brings great expertise to the group with high-value-added products in terms of weight and CSR : high-end products that appeal not only to Italians but also to German, Swiss, and Austrian professionals thanks to a range of specific tippers adapted to these markets.
40 people work at Onnicar.
2022
Gruau launches Flex’n Moov
Constantly monitoring markets, Gruau created Flex’n Moov to adapt to new uses of clean and local mobility for moving people and transporting goods and services. A true start-up within the group, Flex’n Moov is an aggregator and designer in green mobility for professionals.
The company distributes transport solutions (2, 3, and 4 wheels) and has just committed to retrofitting to transform existing internal combustion vehicles into electric vehicles.
An organization for the future
Gruau is evolving its organization around 2 divisions, Urban Mobility and Medical Vehicles, while consolidating the development of Manufacturer Products and the international deployment of its Gruau brand.
With its 16 sites (France, Poland, Italy, Algeria), the group is launching its 7th Corporate Project in 2023 and basing its development and sustainability on its vision.
