Daveilift

Unfortunately from my perspective, I do not see enviromental concerns driving the markets closer together.

The push in the States is to move away from LPG and toward electrical vehicles for indoor use remember we load trucks from the end, using docks. The acceleration and torque that AC provides electric vehicles compares favorably to LPG vehicles and the electric vehicle does not come with Carbon Monoxide risks.

Around 2005-2006 Jungheinrich reversed their USA plan when sales did not come quick enough for their accounting. At that time, their product was at a 17% premium to other quality products being offered in the market which made every sale a concept sale to overcome the higher costs. They decided to align with Catepillar in the States which gave them a broader and instant distribution channel; which was in their mind the obvious problem to penetration. Caterpillar got their hands on superior technology that was the future, since Catepillar relied on their internal combustion lines.

Unfortunately, they redesigned the US style pallet truck that stripped it of some of its best features. I now work for a company that enjoys 50% market share in Chicago (which means we are in most of the deals) and I can not say that Cat, Jungheinrich or Linde participated in any significant manner in most of them.

Diesel plays a very small role in our market and is usually found on high capacity vehicles (10,000 -12,000 lbs) used out of doors which relegates it to a small percentage of applications. Part of the difficulty is diesel delivery and diesel storage on site for most warehouses. Diesel is found mostly in Ports,Lumber, Steel yards and outdoor storage for manufacturing. In many circumstances they represent a small percentage of the clients fleet. These observations hold true for gasoline (petrol) vehicles as well.

For these reasons I do not think we will reach the critical mass necessary for a US awakening on a enviromental basis.