Top 20 lift truck suppliers

The worldwide lift truck market is still growing, but at a slower pace.

By Corinne Kator, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 8/1/2006

After two extremely strong years, growth in the worldwide lift truck market slowed to a moderate level in 2005. According to the World Industrial Truck Statistics, orders worldwide increased about 6%, a modest gain compared to the 17% increase the year before.

Revenue figures from the top suppliers on our list are in line with that slowing growth scenario. Combined sales for the top five suppliers—Toyota, Linde, NACCO Industries, Jungheinrich and Mitsubishi-Caterpillar—increased 5.2% in 2005.

Sales at Toyota, which tops our list for the fourth year running, grew by 3.7% in 2005, compared with a 15.6% gain in 2004. Sales at second-ranked Linde grew by just 0.2%.

Third-ranked NACCO Industries, supplier of Yale and Hyster lift trucks, provides an exception to this trend. Sales at NAACO grew $500 million in 2005, a gain of more than 26% over the previous year. According to the company's year-end earnings report, these gains were due in part to overall sales increases in Asia and the Americas and to price increases implemented in 2005.

While lift truck orders rose at a moderate pace worldwide, according to the World Industrial Truck Statistics, a global alliance of industrial truck associations, there was great variation between regions. Orders rose 12% in Africa in 2005, after a 39% boom in 2004. Orders rose about 8% in Asia and the Americas and about 3% in Europe. The region posting the highest gains in 2005 was Oceania, with a 35% increase in orders.

To be eligible for Modern's top 20 ranking, companies must manufacture and sell lift trucks in at least one of the Industrial Truck Association's seven truck classes. Rankings are based on worldwide revenue during each company's most recent fiscal year.

This year, two companies made our list for the first time. Sixteenth-ranked Hangzhou is the second-largest lift truck manufacturer in China and has just begun selling in North America. Twentieth-ranked Combilift, an eight-year-old Irish company, specializes in long, non-palletized loads. These knocked out two U.S. companies, Landoll and Hoist Liftruck.

The company making the largest jump in the rankings this year is China –based Anhui Heli, rising from 20th to 13th. The company reported earnings of $288 million this year, far exceeding Modern's estimate last year.

Beyond those changes, the list looks much as it did last year, with only two shifts in the top 10. Nichiyu ceded the 10th spot to Doosan, maker of Daewoo lift trucks. NACCO and Jungheinrich also swapped places, with NACCO claiming the No. 3 position.

As this fiscal year progresses, the industry will keep an eye on Linde, whose parent company is seeking a buyer for its lift truck business (see Modern Materials Handling, February 2006, Linde looking for a buyer). Such a sale could affect next year's list.