Lot of speculation and conjecture... but my prediction is, the more things change the more they stay the same. M

Unicarriers, while saddled with MBA types who know very little about materials handling (thus, making no impact on market share), is at the end of the day connected to a tremendous nameplate AND prolific engine manufacturer in Nissan. Despite their lack of expertise at the factory, they have a core group of strong, stable and loyal dealers.

MCFA, on the other hand, is populated by forward thinking, responsive and dedicated materials handling professionals; they're going nowhere... and candidly, watching what they're doing with the JH range of products (someone has actually finally made a run at and a dent in Crown's reach truck stranglehold, since Raymond has increasingly lagged do to lack of genuine long term interest by Toyota) has been entertaining to watch.

Both organizations have enviable dealer networks, and will continue to distribute productly independently and successfully through each, however comparing the two distribution channels is ludicrous... No one has a full line Cat dealers financial horse/staying/marketing power.