Forklift News - KOMATSU LAUNCHES LINDE RANGE IN GLOBAL ALLIANCE

TOKYO, Japan -- Komatsu Forklift Company Ltd has begun selling Linde forklifts throughout Japan, as part of a global alliance announced by the two companies in May.

Under the arrangement, Komatsu Forklift will initially have 33 Linde models available - 21 engine-powered models from 1.2t to 8t, and 12 battery- owered model from 1.4t to 3t. The company has hinted at expansion plans for the range.

Komatsu Forklift will establish a Linde division in-house to sell the forklifts through Komatsu's existing network of 18 dealerships, and the single Linde Material Handling Japan dealership. A full-time Linde salesman will man each outlet, armed with a laptop computer with access to databases and other product information.

The Japanese market will now be able to buy the previously unavailable Linde high-performance hydraulic drive machines, equipped with hydro- static transmission.

Komatsu believes the machines will bring work volume increases of up to 10% per unit, compared with conventional forklifts.

Linde's electric forklifts also bring before-unseen reach heights and turning circles to Japan. The range has both direct and alternate current motors, delivering smoother acceleration and responsive forward-reverse shifting.

In a statement, Komatsu Forklift said its initial targets would be "large customers that make heavy use of forklifts". The company's aim was to secure a 2% market share within three years.

"Since this group does not necessarily coincide with our existing customer base, we will develop aggressive marketing activities to expand this base," the company said.

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