I started in the 70's as a Baker Lift Truck Mechanic in the USA. In the early 80's Linde purchased Baker to access their arguably weaken distribution network of Dealers. Prior to the purchase, Baker had not done a good job of updating their product offering which contributed to Baker's downturn. As one of the "Electric Techs" on staff I was excited to work on the new technology Linde offered in their trucks. Problems presented themselves almost immediately in the US market. High price of the imported equipment and their service parts were the first obstacles to overcome when lower cost alternatives were readliy available. The equipment became a concept sale where premium quality, better efficiency would provide the ROI necessary to justify the higher expense. Good Baker customers gave our new products a shot in the first round to test our claims. The Owners in the US cared little for the increased comforts of a Grammer seat for their Operators especially when they saw the replacement costs. The next problem was that the electrics started to burn up contacts tips, steering motors (especially the 2 brush versions) and hall effect sensors. The reasons I later determined was that in Europe it was usual for the trucks to be powered with 48 volt batteries which ran the circuits at lower amperages, especially at the end of shift. In the USA we had 48 volt batteries in circulation but it was much more likley to see 36 volt and in some 3-Wheel sitdowns 24 volt batteries.
Pallet trucks used thin walled oil-lite bushings that wore out faster than the competitors thick walled greasable bushings and required less attention when it came to replacement. Switches from Europe were more elegant than the US counterparts but were more prone to failure than the US counterparts, especially in freezers and docks.
Circuit boards were not locally repairable in the early years and required expensive OEM rebuilts (when available) or more often new units. Needless to say the Baker customers migrated to our competitors on their next purchases. After all a common saying I have heard in the USA, Germany and Sweden "Sales sels the first truck but Service sells the rest".
Since then I have worked for BT and Jungheinrich and seen both factories and spent time in Sweden and Germany. The market differences I have noticed include the education of most operators in the US is typically High School and lately some College. In Europe, I believe they are higher educated or at least have a higher respect for the equipment they operate. As result you will find that the US products tend to be Armour Plated tanks when compared to their European counterparts. Many Europeans I discussed this with gave me the impression that they considered US designed trucks un-inspired rather than meeting a US market demand. This sentiment was expressed to me in the US and in Germany when we discussed the Crown European offering.