CeMAT Russia provides the platform for Toyota Material Handling Europe (TMHE) to announce a major investment in the Russian forklift market with the formation of OOO Toyota Material Handling RUS (TMH RUS, registered in July 2013, headquartered in Moscow)

The new company is being established to further strengthen existing operations in Russia, via two exclusive dealers, Toyota Tsusho Tekhnika and Sumitec International. The new company, which starts its operation with fifteen people in April 2014, will be providing technical back-up, training and marketing support, as well as product and parts supply via the two dealers.

“We recognise how important the Russian market is today” explained Hans van Leeuwen, Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales, Toyota Material Handling Europe.  “We have a strong commitment to maintaining the highest standards of service for our customers in all markets, and we believe that this investment will enable us to continue to fulfill this ambition in Russia.”

The new company is headed by General Director Hans Gehlen, who has a long experience working in different parts of the TMHE organisation: “We will be offering the complete range of products and services via our dealers, which means the most comprehensive choice of counterbalanced and warehouse trucks and, importantly, advanced service support with the overall objective to drive down costs for our customers here in Russia.”

The new company will streamline the supply of trucks and parts to the dealers and will take care of education and service development, which in turn will allow the dealers to work even closer with customers and increase sales volumes.

Gehlen has a clear view of his objectives with the new company: "We intend to ensure that the standards set throughout Toyota Material Handling Europe - from the product quality resulting from the Toyota Production System (TPS), to the innovation in advanced solutions and aftersales service standards – are all fully available and delivered to our customers in this important Russian market".