Forklift News - MAJOR FORKLIFT DEALER DUMPS NISSAN FOR MITSUBISHI

SYDNEY, Australia -- Nissan Forklifts Australia's foremost Sydney dealer has switched brands, and will retail Mitsubishi forklifts and Fantuzzi container handlers from next month.

Nomad Materials Handling, which has been Nissan's original Sydney dealership for more than 15 years, will end its ties on June 30. Nomad also operates a forklift rental fleet of more than 1200 machines in the states of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Nomad managing director Ross Grassick told Forkliftaction.com that Nissan, which has its Australian headquarters in Sydney, began a retail drive in 2000, marketing its products direct to the industry and effectively competing with its own dealer.

"Having our supplier in direct competition with us, and Nissan being an aggressive marketer, made it very hard to keep up a commercial relationship with them," Mr Grassick said.

"It has become increasingly difficult to play on this field."

Nomad will now deal Mitsubishi forklifts supplied through Sydney-based importer MLA Holdings. Through the tie-up, Nomad will also add the Fantuzzi range to its product line.

"We couldn't compete with Nissan going direct. We were losing out on brand awareness, and customers believed they were saving money going to the manufacturer," Mr Grassick said.

"Now we have a supply arrangement with MLA and, while they are in the business of selling Mitsubishi and Fantuzzi products themselves, retail is not their core business."

MLA managing director Ken Rathgen said Nomad was "a very welcome addition to our distribution network".

The new arrangement is expected to give Mitsubishi, which commands a strong presence in Australia already, further leverage into the market, Mr Rathgen said.

The news comes only months after Adapt-A-Lift, a Brisbane-based dealer, acted similarly in dumping its Nissan supply deal for an alternate agreement with Mitsubishi.

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