This is not the first time Jungheinrich has done this. Working as Multiton they allowed everybody and their brother to sell their product only to then allow select dealers to peddle their wears. Now those select dealers who have are on the outside looking in. Nobody ever wants to lose their franchise for new forklift trucks but it is particularly hurtful to a company today since the training, hardware, software and specialty tools are very expensive and extremely brand specific. These expenses weren't even thought of 25 years ago.
Although all dealer contracts are lengthy and ostensibly minute in every detail there is one sentence that negates the whole thing: This contract can be cancelled at any time, by either party with a 30 day written notice.
Personally, I think that it is about time that we draft a "Dealers Bill of Rights".

dhunter is missing a very important factor when existing Jungheinrich dealers complain about being betrayed. Trucks currently are manufactured over in Europe and then shipped to the US. There is a thing called the exchange rate, Euro vs dollar! Jungheinrich dealers would have loved the opportunity to sell a product that was made here in the US and not have to deal with being so much higher on price versus the competition. Are there some dealers who underperfomed, ofcourse, but to say that all those loosing the line were underperforming or not loyal is simply ignorant!

Economic downturn is prime time to expand your business since your investment dollars will go far. MCFA's move was smart and pretty much expected. They didnt have an electric strategy for the future and needed a solution. Some of their dealers were already in talks with Jungheinrich or another strong electric company. All the other major manufacturers are going full line in some form or another (e.g. Toyota-Raymond, Crown LPG truck, Hyster-Yale consolidation etc.).

It is funny to see comments about dealers being betrayed by Jungheinrich, where Jungheinrich would not probably agreed to the merger if they believed their current dealer network could deliver. It is a simple relationship - you deliver and you get rewarded. MCFA is not a dumb company, they will probably lay over territories if the current Jungheinrich dealer is good enough. Dealers who deliver will be fine and others who were not loyal wont.

agree with you

P.s. are you a distributor of trucks ? we are a manufacturer of electric stacker,which may interest you.

Any Jungheinrich dealers that are going to be cancelled that need parts, try Intella Liftparts
www. intellaliftparts.com

almost like being a worker in a right to work state...
no guarantees...

Or one could say it is like losing your career investment after 15 years of loyal service. Not a good feeling or situation when that well goes dry suddenly.

But no one ever guranteed Hula Hoops would be a fade forever too!

Well put! :)

I wonder how bad we should feel for someone who has a gold mine that runs dry.

Hello,

Well I must say we had the same experience with STILL in our country. We've been paving for them for 10 years after they have opened their own agency and let us down almost over night. I wonder what will happen to them in this recession which has put the the whole industry to red numbers. They've been putting a lot of machines on lease and they are coming back and have a lot of them in their workshop... They invested a lot of money which will not come back in next 10 years...

Johnr your right. The only honor and loyalty left is as a tech to the customer and to your family. Dealerships come and go unfortunatly. I have had owners and factory dealerships alike expect the same from me over the years, and they never failed to let me down at some point in time down the line.

You are correct in your comments, unfortunately volume & $$ often are the main drivers of many decisions and honor & loyalty take a back burner.

Johnr_j

Guys of yours and my generation have seen this many times before, however you don't have to behave like "Jungle" people to be successful. Look at Toyota , nobody could say that about them ( I have never worked for them in any way ) and they are probably the size of the next 3 or 4 competitors all lumped together.

Sometimes honour enters the long term strategy.

littlespar:
Jungheinrich is not alone in that approach.

I have always believed that the fork lift industries is really a dog eat dog world. Jungheinrich really doesn't care about anyone... including their one people... but themselves. This did not brew over night, they used the independents to pave the road and now they drive over them to further their goals. Someone earlier stated it best "a leopard doesn't change his spots."