On August 31, 2011, Nissan held the press conference for the sales of the newly launched K1F series of forklifts that were manufactured in China in Shangri-La Hotel Shanghai in Putong District, Shanghai. General Manager of Nissan Forklift (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Hiroshi Fukuda and Huang Haijiang, Director of Sales Department Kazuhiro Hirata and Manager of Product Development & Design Department from Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Mitsunaga Sugimoto and the related media attended this conference, witnessing the significant moment for Nissan Forklift (Shanghai). Chinaforklift.com (www.chinaforklift.com, English version: www.forkliftnet.com) was invited to the press conference.

K1F series of internal combustion engine counterbalanced forklift, newly launched onto Chinese market by Nissan according to the localized design, was also a type of product designed under the same concept of 1F series, which was a globalized category earlier launched by Nissan in 2007 and more than 30, 000 sets of which were sold in the whole world. Featured with such advantages as environmental protection, safety, high quality and low fuel consumption, Nissan K1F series of internal combustion engine forklift was new force entering the logistics field in China.

Mitsunaga Sugimoto from the Product Development & Design Department of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. Introduced the specifications of K1F series of internal combustion engine forklifts in detail, saying that this new series of forklifts were excellent in terms of eco-friendly design, operational safety, high quality, satisfied driving experience and low fuel consumption. "We are confident that K1F series has accumulated all the advantages of 1F forklifts, and this new forklift will be introduced to the medium and high end customers in China," said Sugimoto on the conference.

General Manager of Nissan Forklift (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Hiroshi Fukuda, Director of Sales Department Kazuhiro Hirata and Mitsunaga Sugimoto from the Product Development & Design Department of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. received the interview of Chinaforklift.com (www.chinaforklift.com, English version: www.forkliftnet.com) .

•As for the new forklift, the key parts were imported from Japan and most of the other parts were high quality accessories purchased from the domestic factories. Nissan commissioned Zhejiang Hangcha Group Co., Ltd. to manufacture the new forklifts by applying the processes derived from the design and development of automobiles.

The engines, transmissions and hydraulic pumps installed on Nissan K1F series of ICE forklifts were imported from Japan, while other parts and accessories were from the domestic factories, which was accorded with Nissan's globalization standard. Despite the key parts that were imported from Japan, Nissan was also responsible for the authentication of the parts purchased in China. The forklifts would be checked and authenticated under the trials in the Japanese way, and this series of forklifts were commissioned to be manufactured by Zhejiang Hangcha Group Co., Ltd.

According to the managers, the decision that they chose to manufacture the new forklifts in Hangcha rather than establishing a new factory was made after thorough consideration. Firstly, there would be a number of issues to be considered before establishing a new factory in China; secondly, the competition between forklift manufacturers in China was too fierce; and thirdly, domestic market in mainland China was mostly low and medium while Nissan targeted at medium and high end markets. After sufficient consideration and preparation, Nissan finally decided to manufacture these forklifts in Hangcha.

The new forklifts would be manufactured by the processes gained from the design and development of automobiles. Together with the full use of the production capacity of Hangcha Group and the way of production in Nissan Forklift, these forklifts reached the quality requirements of Nissan.

It was informed that the Nissan forklifts manufactured in China had passed the highest checking standards and got the production licence. K1F series of localized forklifts were put into production and would be sold in November.
 
•K1F series of ICE forklifts were clean in emission, low in fuel consumption and noise and  excellent in driving stability with reliable equipment and durable usability.

The fundamental specifications of K1F series of forklifts made in China were nearly the same with those manufactured in Japan and America, while the differences lied in masts and seats. K1F forklifts, with the environmental protection performance at the highest level in the world, were installed with QD32 engines used on the Nissan commercial automobiles after long-distance driving tests, in accordance with European IIIA and American EPA Tier III emission standard. Fully considering the safety of the operators, the designers of the new forklifts devised safety and support system linked to the switch of forklift seats. When the operator was not on the normal operational position, this system could sense the related actions through the sensors installed in the seats. In addition, the standard devices including mast locking system that could automatically lock the lifting and tilting functions, and porting break alarm buzzers. With the side tilting control system, the locking function of the rear axle could assure that the four tyres of the forklift sticking to the floor steadily when the forklift was turning, enhancing the driving safety. The multi-functional LCD instrument was easy for the operators to read the information of water temperature, fuel, working hours and direction indicator. Equipped with the personal identification system as the standard configuration, only the operator with the pass words could start the forklift. Through the automatic diagnosis system, the fault codes could be indicated and recorded, providing reliable guarantee for correct and rapid maintenance of the vehicle. 

•Targeting at Chinese market to improve the competition through localized production

During the interview, General Manager of Nissan Forklift (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Hiroshi Fukuda told the journalist that Nissan had positioned China as the most important market.

"The sales amount of industrial vehicles on Chinese market in 2010 reached 200, 000 sets, creating a historically new record. We anticipate that the sales amount would have reached 250,000 sets in this year, through which the expanding speed of the market could be seen clearly," said Fukuda, "although the unstable factors such as appreciation of RMB and rising of the material price still exist, the economy is hopeful and prospective. We can predict that the sales of forklifts in China will continue to increase in the future."

"Several years ago, we started the strategic layout on the market in mainland China, and had the intention to produce forklifts in China. Until today, along with appreciation of Yen, the competition of Nissan forklifts manufactured in Japan became weak," continued Fukuda, "in order to offer better service to the Chinese customers, shortening the delivery period and controlling the price, we make the decision to start to sell the forklifts manufactured in China from November, 2011. This 2.0-3.0 tonnage internal combustion forklifts are the upgrade of Nissan after four years."

•Pursuing high quality, concentrating on the eco-friendly design to gain more customers by the advanced features of the products and form diversified development together with the same category

The logistics industry in China had been a growing market. With the fast development in recent years, it was analysed that the domestic factories mostly focused on low end markets. Numbers of factories manufactured products of the same category at different prices, leading to the situation that the market was at chaos. Against such background, Nissan located to the medium and high end markets, especially the high end market. They showed their hope toward Chinese market in the coming years.

As the call for the environmental protection was louder, the safety, reliability and maneuverability of the forklifts would also be enhanced in turn. "High quality, excellent performance and environmental protection will continue to be our pursuit, and our products in the future will also focus on the high quality and eco-friendly concept," said Fukuda, "the launch of K1F series of internal combustion engine forklifts with high quality and competitive force is to meet the demands of the medium and high end customers in domestic China. With the same requirements toward the quality, Nissan ask for the advantage and service of the forklifts so as to form a diversified competition with the products of the same category."

"Through localized production in China, the delivery period will be shortened to be half of the imported ones while the price will be more advanced," he concluded, "this will make us closer to the customers. We will take Shanghai as the base, sparing no effort to fully open the sales business of K1F series in China since November this year to meet the demands of more Chinese customers."

Videos at http://www.chinaforklift.com/video/index.php?keyword=%C8%D5%B2%FAℑ.x=29ℑ.y=19

Press Conference for Nissan New Forklift

General Manager of Nissan Forklift (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Hiroshi Fukuda

Mitsunaga Sugimoto from the Product Development & Design Department of Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.

About Nissan

•Etablished in April, 2002 by Nissan 100% subsidiary
•China corporate headquarters in Shanghai, China
•Owning the forklift warehouse and separate spare parts warehouse
•Distribute forklift trucks through Chinese network of more than 10 dealers
•Supplying full range of Nissan forklift models, towing tractors KD and spare parts