For the first three fiscal quarters of 2008, worldwide lift truck sales rolled right along. In the fourth quarter, it was a different story.
By Lorie King Rogers, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling,
Lift trucks are such an important component in the materials handling industry. Without them, we'd be at a standstill. Literally.
During the first three fiscal quarters of 2008, worldwide lift truck sales saw modest, reasonable growth, but the fourth quarter saw sales come to a screeching halt.
"Sales didn't just drift down a hill; it was much more abrupt. Sales ran down the hill and stopped," says Stan Simpson, current president of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA, 202-296-9880, www.indtrk.org).
Blame it on the economic downturn. As was the case with nearly every industry around the globe, the lift truck industry saw purchases put on hold and end users hunker down.
According to the ITA's statistics, worldwide industrial truck orders were down 8% for 2008. The
Don't despair: The lift truck industry has taken a hit before. In 2001, the global market declined nearly 12% in terms of total lift trucks sold. The industry bounced back in 2003 with a 13% increase over 2002 and reported strong growth up until 2008.
Although sales were down in 2008, ITA is predicting a come back in 2009. According to Simpson, there are several positive indicators that show we're turning a corner. "I'm not saying we'll be back to 2007 numbers soon, but I believe we've hit bottom and are on the way back up again."
How has this environment affected the ranking of Modern's Top 20 worldwide lift truck suppliers? Not much. Last year's leaders remained at the top.
The Kion Group (North American brand: Linde) held on firmly to the No. 2 position with $6 billion in revenue. That number was down from last year's $6.3 billion, but more than double the revenue from No. 3 Jungheinrich, which reported $2.98 billion.
NACCO Industries (North American brands: Hyster, Yale) climbed from $2.7 billion to $2.8 billion, but not enough to move them out of the No. 4 position.
Rounding out the top five is Crown, with $1.82 billion. Its 2008 revenue was enough to bring the company up from last year's No. 6 ranking. As a result, Mitsubishi Caterpillar moved to the No. 6 slot with $1.67 billion.
The combined industrial lift truck revenue from all 20 companies on Modern's ranking list reached $28.99 billion. That's a 8.46% decline over the fiscal year 2007 total of $31.67 billion.
Making the List
To be eligible for Modern's annual top 20 ranking, companies must manufacture and sell lift trucks in at least one of the Industrial Truck Association's seven truck classes: electric motor rider; electric motor narrow aisle; electric motor hand trucks; internal combustion engine, cushion tire; internal combustion engine, pneumatic tire; electric and internal combustion engine tow tractors; rough terrain for lift trucks.
Rankings are based on worldwide revenue from powered industrial trucks during each company's most recent fiscal year.
Mergers and Acquisitions
In the merger and acquisition area, there weren't too many major breaking news flashes. However, at the end of 2008 Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe (MCFE) took a controlling interest in the Finnish lift truck provider Rocla. As a result, Rocla has become a subsidiary of MCFE. Since the deal was completed toward the end of the year, the companies are reporting separately this year, but are expected to report a combined 2009 figure next year.
Moving Forward
Simpson predicts that the big players will get bigger and the small ones will find it difficult to compete. "It's my belief that the large, full-service companies will continue to grow. It's the Wal-Mart scenario, and it's alive and well in the lift truck industry."
Is that a good thing?
"If you're a small entrepreneur in a small town, you might not think so," says Simpson. "But for the end users it's more and more important as it relates to the life cycle of a lift truck." He explains that people who are making capital investments in lift trucks or any mission-critical equipment are looking to buy from a stable company that can offer full service during the life of a lift truck. They can't afford to buy something that isn't fully supported and documented when something goes wrong.
"Buying a major brand may cost a little more up front, but if there's a problem, you can make a call and it's fixed. The after sales support and service of a product is more important than ever," says Simpson.
Industry Gets a Lift
During the first five months of 2009, industry numbers have not deteriorated; things haven't gotten worse. That means we're closer to the end than the beginning of the economic downturn.
"No doubt that 2009 started out poorly," says Simpson, "but I predict our next report will show an increase. And many of us in the industry believe we'll be seeing a positive turnaround very soon. When you talk to people in the business, the major players and ITA members, they're not just sitting around saying 'woe is me.' Everyone fully accepts the fact that volumes are lower and we have to make tough decisions. Leaders all look at this as an opportunity to look at what they do and do it better. We think the industry will come back as a better one than before this happened."
On The Horizon
Last year Modern recommended keeping an eye on emerging Chinese and Indian lift truck suppliers. It's still good advice. The worldwide economic situation affected everyone. So once we're back on track, we repeat, Modern will be keeping tabs on emerging Chinese and Indian lift truck suppliers.
|
Rank |
Company |
2007 rank |
2008 revenue* |
North American brands |
World headquarters |
|
1 |
Toyota Industries Corp. |
1 |
$6.51 billion |
Toyota, Raymond |
|
|
2 |
Kion Group |
2 |
$6.00 billion |
Linde |
|
|
3 |
Jungheinrich Lift Truck Corp. |
3 |
$2.98 billion |
Jungheinrich |
|
|
4 |
NACCO Industries |
4 |
$2.82 billion |
Hyster, Yale |
|
|
5 |
Crown Equipment Corp. |
6 |
$1.82 billion |
Crown, Hamech |
New Bremen, Ohio |
|
6 |
Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift |
5 |
$1.67 billion |
Mitsubishi, CAT |
Sagamihara, Japan |
|
7 |
Nissan Forklift Corp. |
8 |
$1.17 billion |
Nissan, Barrett, Atlet |
Tokyo, Japan |
|
8 |
Komatsu Utility Co. |
9 |
$1.15 billion |
Komatsu, Tusk |
Tokyo, Japan |
|
9 |
Anhui Forklift Group |
10 |
$857 million |
Heli |
Hefei, Anhui, China |
|
10 |
TCM Corp. |
7 |
$733 million |
TCM |
Tokyo, Japan |
|
11 |
Nippon Yusoki Co. |
11 |
$723 million |
Not available in North America |
Kyoto, Japan |
|
12 |
Clark Material Handling |
13 |
$495 million |
Clark |
Seoul, South Korea |
|
13 |
Manitou |
14 |
$485 million |
Manitou |
Ancenis, France |
|
14 |
Zhejiang Hangcha Engineering Machinery Co. |
15 |
$414 million** |
HC |
Hangzhou, China |
|
15 |
Doosan Infracore |
12 |
$363 million |
Doosan Infracore |
Seoul, South Korea |
|
16 |
Hyundai Heavy Industries |
16 |
$224 million |
Hyundai |
Ulsan, South Korea |
|
17 |
Rocla |
|
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