I do not agree with you Steve. Most of my upper level managers rest on one thing and one thing only, cost.
Our company would buy the machine with the cheapest price tag if I was not here. Upper level managers (VP's, CEO's) do not think about maintenance. They look at the check or lease payment they have to write out. A freind of mind purchased 12 Jungheinrich turret machines, two broke down...the factory doesn't have the parts. It's been two months to get parts for machines that are less than a year old! Take two months times $150,000-$200,000 per day.
The thing is, a maintenance budget is a black hole for compaines. There are so many places to hide MRO cost, while capital expenditure is a whole different ballgame.
Forklift buying is going economy, if you're not cheap in the US, you're going to have a tough time selling. I believe in relationships and if you're going to crack a big account with a high priced product, it's going to take awhile.
Komatsu and Doosan are prime examples, I'm not saying they're a bad product, but I view them more as economy brands. In my area, they sell on price and price alone.
Let me ask everyone this:
"If a Toyota or Hyster machine was the same price as a Komatsu or Doosan" which would you buy??
Keep in mind..lower prices usually directly effects product support!