Davelift - I agree with your statements on the Linde "big lift" trucks. They, IMHO, are just another "Me Too" product with a larger price differential that is hard to justify on paper. The smaller units do have distinctive product differences that can be demonstrated & justified - fuel savings, no service brake issues, PM frequency intervals (actual cost of PM are a bit higher when one follows the Linde recommended services to a T), very low emission levels (one can have lunch by the tail pipe of a running diesel), longer equipment life (which is of less importance when the unit is acquired on a 5 year FMV (you may call rental) as the end user is only paying for equipment "usage".
In the States, Linde has been around since the 70's when they got in bed with Baker but their market presence remains in the single digits - they are viewed and promoted as a niche machine designed for "dirty, mean & nasty" operations. I'm not knocking them in the States, they must be making money on US operations and when a sale type sells one he can make a nice commission and develop a loyal customer base.
Hey, just my 2 cents (or 6 pence) worth.