HAMBURG, Germany — Lift truck maker Jungheinrich introduced three new product lines and showcased a $55 million upgrade of its production facilities at a press conference here last week.

Two of the products—an ergonomic steering system and a new Class 3 pallet truck—will be available in the U.S. market in early 2008.

The steering system, called the JetPilot, will be available as an option for electric counterbalanced trucks. With a design inspired by automotive steering wheels, the JetPilot places controls for functions such as lifting and lowering, mast tilt and sideshift on the truck’s central steering wheel. The JetPilot, Jungheinrich spokesman Tobias Harzer told Modern, is an electronic steering wheel designed to make steering easy, minimizing strain on drivers’ arms and shoulders.

The new pallet truck, part of Jungheinrich’s EJE series, features a redesigned chassis and a tight turning radius for easier trailer loading. More details about the pallet truck will be released soon, according to Kay Middleton, Jungheinrich’s spokesperson for the U.S. market.

The third product is a hydrostatic drive internal combustion lift truck designed to compete with hydrostatic trucks from Kion Group, Germany’s largest lift truck manufacturer. Jungheinrich will not be launching this product in the United States, says Middleton, because the company has chosen to focus its U.S. marketing efforts on its electric warehouse trucks.

New facilities

After the Hamburg press conference, Jungheinrich offered tours of its state-of-the-art production facilities in nearby Norderstedt. The company has invested heavily in redesigning its two German production facilities in an effort to reduce lead times for its trucks. Current lead times for U.S. customers, says Middleton, are six weeks for basic trucks and up to four months for specialized trucks.

Jungheinrich chairman Hans-Georg Frey told reporters he hopes the company’s investments in production and marketing will be enough to make Jungheinrich the world’s third-largest lift truck maker. Jungheinrich ranked fourth—behind NACCO Corp.—in German magazine dhf’s ranking list published in late 2006. The company ranked third—ahead of NACCO—in Modern’s recent ranking of industrial lift truck suppliers published in July 2007.