com/article/top_20_lift_truck_suppliers_2014
Brian Butler, chairman of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA) and president and CEO of Linde Material Handling North
America, says last years strong 5% growth in unit sales is on track for a repeat performance. But the transactions will look
very different as fleet owners increasingly value and quantify the impact of a lift truck on the entire business. Butler
suggests the changing and deepening relationship between suppliers and end-users is not unique to the lift truck market.
Customers are becoming smarter about materials handling in general, Butler says. They will continue to be diligent
about managing their businesses, but 2009 opened a lot of peoples eyes. Theyre looking harder at a huge wealth of
opportunities and longer-term solutions.
Traditionally, a business might spend in some areas and squeeze others, Butler says. Lift trucks were often among the
first places to see spending cuts, but increased visibility into total cost of ownership has exposed the true costs of
maintaining aging equipment. Investment in a fleet is a way to improve productivity, Butler says. We find some
customers are buying units earlier or in greater numbers because they can actually see savings while improving
productivity. For those who havent bought a lift truck in the last five years, there are a lot of things they might not be
aware of, but all OEMs are prepared to have those discussions.
Growth by region
The Worldwide Industrial Truck Statistics (WITS) organization tracks quarterly and monthly statistics on lift truck sales,
and is compiled by six trade groups based in North America, Brazil, Japan, Korea, Europe and China. According to the
2013 WITS figures, global orders increased by 7% from 944,405 to 1,009,777. This follows a 3% decline in orders in
2012. Shipments were up 5% after staying level from 2011 to 2012.
Click for
larger version
Since 2008, shipments to the Asia region have increased 46%, while shipments to the Americas rose 6% over the same
period. Europes shipments have yet to recover from the losses of the recession, with shipments down a total of 21%
since 2008. Globally, shipments are up 7% in the last seven years. Highlights of the 2013 WITS figures include:
The Americas posted the strongest growth in shipments at 238,455 units, up more than 8% year over year and following a
6% increase last year. According to figures from the ITA, 172,073 units of Class 1 through 5 lift trucks were United States
sales, as compared to 153,083 units in 2012, an increase of more than 12%.
After a near 15% growth rate in orders and shipments last year, Africa has fallen by 6% and 5% respectively. A total of
18,903 units were shipped to African countries in 2013.
In Oceania (Australia and nearby islands), shipments were also up better than 15% in 2012, but have since fallen by 6% to
just 20,835 units in 2013.
After Asia saw a slight decline for 2012 in orders (-4.4%) and shipments (-2.6%), in 2013 the region saw the largest
increase in orders (10.6%) and second-largest increase in shipments (8%). Shipments to the region totaled 394,054,
accounting for 40% of global shipments.
Europes orders fell 6% in 2012, but held relatively level in 2013 with shipments down less than half a percent and orders
up 1.6%.
The Top 10
With revenues up 12%, Toyota Industries Corp. is once again No. 1 on our list, pulling further ahead of Kion Group.
Toyotas revenues of $7.7 billion are $1.6 billion more than Kions $6.11 billion, with the leaders revenues 26% larger. In
2011, Toyota was 5% ahead of Kion.
Outlining the factors behind the increased revenues, Toyota executives cited the 2013 acquisition of Cascade Corp., a
major manufacturer of lift truck attachments, and the launch of the new Toyota 8-Series lift truck line with new large
capacity models and two new engines. These activities led to an increase in unit sales worldwide, a statement released
by Toyota said. The markets in China and North America registered growth, the European market showed a recovery,
and the Japanese market maintained solid sales.
Though Kions 2013 revenues dipped slightly, the numbers follow 12% growth of nearly three quarters of a billion dollars
between 2011 and 2012. In a statement, Gordon Riske, CEO of the Kion Group, said we now want to take advantage of
the economic recovery in Western Europe, expand our excellent position in emerging markets, further strengthen sales
and service and increase our profitability yet again. New products and our successful modular and platform strategy will
play a key role in this respect.
The rest of the top five held their rankings from last year, with Jungheinrich ranking third after posting 5% growth to $3.16
billion. Hyster-Yale Materials Handling again ranked fourth, and following a slight drop in revenues in 2012 has bounced
back with 8% growth to $2.66 billion. Crown Equipment rounded out the top 5 with 9% growth to $2.4 billion.
In its first appearance on our list, Mitsubishi Nichiyu claimed sixth place with $1.96 billion. The company previously
reported separately as Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift (ranked eighth last year) and Nippon Yusoki (ranked tenth last year).
The companies individual revenues last year totaled $2.3 billion. Reporting jointly, the company bumps UniCarriers down
one position and makes room for Hangcha to join the Top 10.
Seventh-place finisher UniCarriers is the result of a 2012 merger between Nissan Forklift and TCM, who have previously
been ranked eighth and eleventh place, respectively. In its second year on our list, UniCarriers reported revenues of $1.69
billion, an 11% decrease from 2012, which had seen a 9% increase over Nissans and TCMs individual revenues. Its
worth noting that foreign exchange rates impact all members of the Top 20 list. In the case of UniCarriers, sales in yen
were actually up 9% before converting to dollars.
Following a slight decline in revenues last year, Anhui Forklift, the Chinese makers of Heli forklifts, reported revenues of
$1.09 billion, a nearly 12% increase. Becoming the second Chinese company in the Top 10, Hangcha Group also saw a
slight decrease in revenues in 2012. In 2013, the company reported 18% growth to come just $2 million shy of $1 billion in
revenues.
Rounding out the top 10 is Komatsu, which posted the largest percentage increase on last years list after revenues
spiked 27% from 2011 to 2012. The company fell short of that $1.4 billion high water mark this year with $900 million, but
that number is on par with 2010 and 2011 revenues and 20% higher than the companys 2009 earnings. And again, the
conversion from yen to dollars also played a role in Komatsus earnings.
least one of the Industrial Truck Associations seven truck classes: electric motor rider; electric motor hand trucks; internal
combustion engine; pneumatic tire; electric and internal combustion engine tow tractors; and rough terrain lift trucks.
Rankings are based on worldwide revenue from powered industrial trucks during each companys most recent fiscal year.
Revenue figures submitted in foreign currency are calculated using the Dec. 31, 2013 exchange rate.
Class 4: internal combustion engine sit down rider forklifts with cushion tires, suitable for indoor use on hard
surfaces
Class 5: internal combustion engine sit down rider forklifts with pneumatic tires, suitable for
outdoor use on rough surfaces
Class 6: electric or internal combustion engine powered, rider units with the ability to tow (rather than lift) at
least 1,000 pounds
Class 7: almost exclusively powered by diesel engines with pneumatic tires, these units are suitable for rough
terrain and used outdoors.
Since mostly classes 1 through 5 are used in materials handling applications inside the four walls, Modern has only
specified those on our table.
Josh Bond
Associate Editor
Josh Bond is an associate editor to Modern. Josh was formerly Moderns lift truck columnist and contributing editor, has a degree in Journalism from Keene State
College and has studied business management at Franklin Pierce.
Recent Entries
Dearborn Mid-West Company launches materials handling systems division
New division to provide turnkey material handling systems for warehousing and distribution, post and parcel, and industrial markets.