Old forker - your speculation is not even in the ball park or maybe I should say the rugby field - no the sky is falling comments from me - just facts.
My statement is based actual experience with EP brand - 6 mos delivery on a controller for a walkie, twice for the same customer - part was not in stock in US, we were told. Light duty operation - a small printing company. Lost a customer. Spoke with the EP representative - and he advised it was their philosophy that they need to build a population first, then add the costly product support. What comes first chicken or the egg????. It don't matter in the end users eyes - they just want there lifts up and running - not an excuse or I'm sorry. Plus, I have sold truck to customers that bought "on the cheap" Chinese brands - they could not get technical or parts support help to keep them up and running - these were near new units they replaced - we did not give them much more than "salvage value" as a trade but allowed them to build equity into the unit that we delivered. Valid, certifiable reasons for a "Cavet Emptor" approach for sure Bloke.

Based on you comments, you must of had similar experiences with the Japanese brands you represented too!

Hangcha are one of the 2 big players and are reliable and totally supportable if the drive train is carefully chosen from the options they offer. I can't speak highly enough of the company's attitude and interest in striving to constantly improve their products and the level of communication with distributors and dealers. Way better than the Japanese manufacturer we represented for many years.

I'm wondering if the "caveat emptor" comment is driven more by xenophobia than fact and given some of the horrors that the USA forklift industry has produced in the past, it's somewhat ironic to read.

All I can say is Caveat Emptor! Do a Google search to see what this means.