Toyota Material Handling to relocate headquarters to Columbus, Indiana

Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU) announced today it will be relocating its North American headquarters from Irvine, Calif., to Columbus, Ind. The relocation and eventual closing of the Irvine office will take place in phases, beginning in Fall 2012 and is anticipated to be completed over the next several years.

TMHU, the No. 1 selling lift truck in North America for the last decade, has been headquartered in Irvine since March 2002 at 1 Park Plaza in the Jamboree Center, an Irvine Company property. TMHU currently employs 72 associates in Irvine and another 53 in Columbus. The majority of Irvine associates are being offered relocation and those not moving will be offered severance and job placement assistance.

TMHU’s existing Columbus offices are physically connected to Toyota Industrial Equipment Mfg., Inc., a zero landfill manufacturing facility where the majority of Toyota lift trucks sold in North America are built.

“Bringing all TMHU associates under one roof will allow us to be more responsive to customer and dealer needs,” said Jeff Rufener, TMHU president. “Being on the Columbus campus with our forklift plant will result in more synergies and improved communications between sales and marketing and manufacturing.”

The Irvine move is part of a larger Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) global vision. TICO, the parent company of TMHU, conducted similar relocations to align sales and marketing with manufacturing plants in Takahama, Japan, and Mjölby, Sweden.