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retail sales, with approximately 226,000 and 231,000 units
sold, respectively, says ITA President Brian J. Feehan. This
year seems primed for another strong performance: North
American sales for the first six months of 2017 were a little
above those for the same period a year earlier. If that pace
continues, Feehan says, sales could surpass 2016’s record
high.
Several factors continue to push sales upward, according to Feehan and other industry observers. One is the
need to replace equipment after years of recession-in-duced belt-tightening that led companies to try to squeeze
more life out of older trucks. Another is the desire to take
advantage of technological innovations like telematics, new
power sources, and more fuel-efficient designs that can
boost productivity and reduce operating and maintenance
costs. A third is the growth of e-commerce. With online
sales soaring, companies such as Amazon are opening
more distribution centers—and that means they’re buying
entire fleets of forklifts, too. Even companies that expand or
reconfigure existing facilities to accommodate e-commerce
fulfillment need more forklifts, particularly electric trucks,
which are experiencing especially strong sales, according to
Feehan.
But what goes up must come down, and it’s reasonable
to wonder how long the market will continue to accelerate
or at least sustain its current performance. Almost every
industry is affected by cyclical economic factors, and mate-
rial handling equipment is no exception. There’s also the
question, Feehan says, of “how much is too much, and how
little is too little”—in other words, what is a sustainable
level for the industry. The past few years have seen some
consolidation among forklift makers, and if the market
becomes too crowded, there could potentially be further
consolidation at some point. Still, he says, “all the economic
forecasts we get for 2017 through 2019 are pretty positive,
and it looks like we’ll continue to have a healthy, robust
industry for at least the next several years.”
WANTED: SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT
But strong demand in and of itself is not enough to assure
sales for any newcomer. To break into the market, it
must identify a growing need that is not being adequately
met, bring something new and different to the market,
or both.
BYD Forklifts, which entered the North American market
in late 2015, is doing both. In North America, the company
offers three counterbalanced rider forklift models and a
pallet truck with lithium-ion (l-i) batteries made by parent company BYD Heavy Industries of China, the world’s
largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries. Proprietary
battery chemistry and the first forklifts designed specifically for lithium-ion batteries will position the company to
capitalize on the expected high demand for l-i–powered
lift trucks, according to Brian Rippie, BYD’s sales director,
forklifts–North America.
Because BYD designs and builds its forklifts and batteries
as a unit, the bright blue trucks allay some of the concerns
buyers may have about lithium-ion, Rippie said in an interview at the 2017 ProMat Show in Chicago. For example,
the lift trucks’ form factors were designed to accommodate
lithium-ion batteries’ lighter weight, and the battery management system is fully integrated into the forklift, rather
than provided as an add-on, he said. A 10-year warranty on
the battery and environmentally friendly battery chemistry
are some of the other features that differentiate the trucks
from others on the market, he said.
Another “newcomer,” France’s Manitou, may be a familiar name from its rough-terrain lift trucks, compact loaders, telescopic handlers, and aerial platforms, but now it’s
aiming to get into the North American warehouse and
manufacturing logistics space, too. At ProMat, Manitou
Americas Inc. announced that it would be launching four
new internal combustion (IC) and 10 new electric forklift
models in North America in 2017, with more (including
diesel versions) planned for 2018. The company had two of
those new product lines—one IC and the other electric—on
display at the show.
Manitou’s target market is clear: The company’s
announcement refers to “simplicity and value positioning”
that will provide an “alternative to the highly technical fork-
