The % ownership of Caterpillar in the MCF (A, E, S) business is less than 20% these days. In 1992 it was 20% but has reduced over the years. The trademark is not paid for, but instead through it's share Caterpillar Inc make profit or loss every year dependent on turnover, and are obviously represented on the board of directors with 2 seats, from what I recall. The factory in China is not part of the MCF business directly which is why it's set up as Mitsubishi Forklift Dalian, and a different joint venture arrangement.

There is no issue between MCF/MHI and Caterpillar Inc., although Caterpillar are not really involved in the complete business, and really influence only brand implementation and use.

Many Cat Earth Moving dealers had already left the fold prior to 1992 due to the fact that Caterpillar was already loosing interest in the lift truck business and already for many years had farmed out its production and even the design responsibility to other parties i.e. Daewoo, Royal Tractor, Kalmar and Rocla. In the last years only a couple of models carried Cat engines, but no forklift was produced in house.
The lack of want or interest from Caterpillar in lift trucks has meant that there is really no desire from earth moving dealers to have Cat Lift Trucks as a product, except where they do not wish for someone else to offer Cat branded products. There is no synergy between the products at all, which is a shame as both sides would benefit.
It still does not make sense for MHI to end the relationship due to the power of the Cat brand.

Ed, didn't the 2b1c start only 6-8 years ago rather than over 10?
In the rest of the world this is still not something practiced, except in rare cases.