At last month's Industrial Truck Association (ITA) meeting, a worldview of coming trends in lift trucks was offered by industry leaders from three continents. From Japan, Akira Yokoi, chairman of Toyota Industries and president of the Japanese lift truck association JIVA, projected development of more environmentally friendly internal combustion models to compete more effectively with electrics. This, he said, comes at a time when electrics continue to gain significant market share in Japan. From Europe, Carl-Erik Ridderstrale, president and CEO of BT Industries and head of the industrial truck division of FEM in Europe, said he expects electrics to gain market share especially as higher voltage battery systems come into use. And Larry Wuench, executive vice president of MCFA and president of the U.S.-based ITA, called for strong growth in AC powered lift trucks, of which only a few models are now offered in the U.S., in the next 3-5 years.