Our history, by Beatriz López (a “Lecturist” since 2002)

In the 1980s, four construction machinery engineers joined forces to find a solution that would, above all, make the time-consuming research that their work entailed easier.  It was quickly agreed! What is missing on the market is a market overview in which one could see the technical data and ideally the list prices of the machines at a glance. And it would be nice to add used machinery values so that dealers can also use this tool - similarly to Eurotax-Schwacke in the automotive industry!

The basic framework was set up and LECTURA GmbH was founded in Nuremberg on October 8th, 1984. Just six months later, in March 1985, the first market overview for used earthmoving and road construction machinery was published under the name BIQ (Baumaschinen Informationsquelle).

Admittedly, this first issue was “quite lean” - but as the saying goes? ...everyone starts small!

The big role model was the Eurotax-Schwacke-List, and so manufacturers were contacted, and technical data and list prices were collected. The founders also got in touch with Eurotax-Schwacke and quickly came to an agreement. From now on, LECTURA would work under a Eurotax-Schwacke-License and cover the areas that Eurotax-Schwacke itself did not have in its portfolio - mobile machinery (except for agricultural machinery). Thus, in 1986, “BIQ” became “Eurotax-Schwacke List”.

With Michael Schmutzer as Managing Director, LECTURA GmbH experienced rapid growth. The Schwacke list for construction machinery was followed by forklifts (1988), truck-mounted cranes (1989), cranes (1994), aerial work platforms (1995), construction and civil engineering equipment (1997), municipal technology (2001), recycling (2004) and, as the Eurotax-Schwacke-Licence expired in 2002, the last kind of machinery was added in 2005 being the agricultural machinery.

Another milestone followed in 2000, with the introduction of Euro currency (at least the two-year mandatory labeling until its final implementation in 2002), and as the Internet was in the meantime also quite reasonable - the ideal opportunity for LECTURA to expand outside Germany. How? Quite simply... with the online valuation system; today's known as LECTURA Valuation.

When does Iva Thiel appear in the history of LECTURA? ...she's always been there - I'm sure many people will think so. Well, that was another good decision by Michael Schmutzer, in fact his best decision!

He brought Iva Thiel on board in the 90s to revamp the marketing, and anyone who knows her knows that she hasn’t stopped there. She is the heart and soul of the company. Iva has given LECTURA a fresher, better image and she has made LECTURA what it is today. In 2004, she finally became the Managing Director, which means that she is celebrating an anniversary this year as well.

With Iva Thiel, LECTURA has developed enormously, from pure valuation for second hand machinery to a hub for data management. Together with her son Petr, who ran the company with her for a while, LECTURA Specs was launched in 2010 as a free website with technical details for anyone who doesn't need a machine valuation but is simply looking for information, and with a variety of services relating to mobile machines, such as transport cost calculators, spare parts enquiries, machine inspections and much more.

LECTURA Press was finally launched in 2011. As the name suggests, it's all about press relations - we conduct interviews with industry experts, publish press releases, write reports and, last but not least, we publish the LECTURA DigiMessenger. 

LECTURA thus covers all relevant areas of this exciting world of mobile machines, so there is something for everyone.

The audience of more than 1.5 million visitors per month, the constant development of our products and services, the ever-increasing recognition and internationality represent the product of her foresight and integrity.

When asked about LECTURA, Iva once replied “I live and love this company” - and she runs it according to this philosophy.

Even if it's not always easy for me and my approx. 50 colleagues to keep up with Iva, I speak for everyone when I say: “You're doing a great job and I'm proud to be part of the LECTURA family”!

With this in mind.... happy Birthday and let's celebrate!