Worldwide Lift Truck Market

In seventh place, Anhui’s revenues increased slightly following a more than 14% jump in unit sales to 152,380 units.

Eighth-place Hangcha grew revenues by 4.9% in local currency, which equates to a 3.2% increase in dollars to $1.27 billion. The company sold 139,436 units in 2019. In 2019, the company introduced nearly 200 models of more than 40 product series to new markets.

In 2019, Hangcha invested $150 million in asset acquisition and equity, including increased capital investment in Pengcheng New Energy to expand lithium battery capacity and acquisition of all the France equity of Hangzhou Manitou Machinery Equipment Co. Ninth on our list is Doosan, which grew revenues by 4% in 2019.

Rounding out the Top 10, Clark Material Handling reported virtually unchanged revenues to finish 2019 with $783 million.

Notable performances

No. 12 Hyundai sold 16,515 units in 2019, a decrease from 2018, but Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE) also became the first Korean-based company to develop driverless autonomous forklift trucks. According to the company, the autonomous forklift can determine optimal routes and be remotely controlled using a routing control system it developed. It also has a vehicle control system featuring 2D safety laser scanners that can perceive vehicle surroundings, detect obstacles and prevent collisions.

Combilift climbed one spot to 14 after selling 6,400 units, a 13% increase from 2018, and earning $335 million in revenue. Combilift continues its policy of investing 7% of turnover back into R&D and innovation, according to a Combilift spokesperson, who says the company’s range of products has seen a significant increase in sales, particularly in the North American market where the warehousing sector has shown interest in Combilift’s Aisle-Master and high-capacity Powered Pallet Trucks (PPT). In 2019, it introduced the new Combi-CBE model, a compact, electric 8,000-pound capacity multi-directional forklift truck.

Newcomer LiuGongdebuts on our list in 18th place with $94 million in revenue. The company sold 10,935 industrial vehicles worldwide in 2018, an increase of 18.1% compared to 2017, and went on to sell 12,262 in 2019, an increase of 12%. The company introduced a new generation of Class 5 pneumatic tire forklifts, as well as new generation Class 1 and Class 4 cushion tire forklifts designed for the American market.

India-basedGodrej & Boyce, No. 19, sold 3,668 powered industrial trucks in 2019 and targeted the three-wheel electric forklift market with the launch of its Bravo line, which the company says could help it capture 20% of the Indian electric forklift market before the end of the next fiscal year. The product was designed and produced in India following 24 months of R&D.

How the suppliers are ranked

To be eligible for Modern’s annual Top 20 lift truck suppliers 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 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 company’s most recent fiscal year. Revenue figures submitted in foreign currency are calculated using the Dec. 31, 2019 exchange rate.