exhalt,
When i worked for Mitusbishi and we were importing products from Japan to the US. I discovered that they actually had different engines in the lifts that were used in their domestic market (generally smaller w/less HP/torque). Price of fuel was a primary reason, the second reason was forklifts are used totally different in Japan than in the US due to their Just In Time manufacturing process. Very little in plant storage, some mobile racking system. Or to put it another way a storage rack sales person and a lawnmower sales person would go hungry in Japan. So I guess we were getting a premium unit that would hold up better.

Yale /Hyster in ther 4k-5K, electric counterbalance solid press on tire lift truck offered a drive motor that was 9" diameter & in their premium version it had a 11.5" dia. motor, higher performance levels (travel/lifting speeds, etc.) and other enhancements. These premium products were placed into high cycle/high usage applications. A 9" drive motor in those application didn't have enough power to pull a sick lady of the evening out of bed by comparison.