In 2009 the global forklift industry dropped by about 40% in 2010 it might have a 9% growth. With the global over production of about 31% what dose the future hold. In China many local companies will control the market ,in Europe Linde and Junghienrich will do well, In the US Crown and hyster will hold there own so where will Toyota be in three years after there brand has been damaged. Many companies in Europe deal direct with customers but in US deal through dealers if they deal direct they could add a couple of thousand dollars per truck to there bottom line. But can they deliver the customer service needed. This leaves a valuable point what will be more important price or customer service, will manufactures want to rent direct to customers to gain market share or will they be happy to sell to dealers who might not have the customer service. Will Chinese companies who use the same old TCM design make a more global marketing effort or will they try to control there own market producing tens of thousands of units per year. So will there be many home grown companies looking after there local markets or will there be five or six global manufactures ,with another four or five companies who will look after special markets like heavy and container handling
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starting to look like a commercial. not that i disagree but still, there is that annoying parts pricing issue.
Just took delivery of our new 8 series units (8FGCU25) MAN what a nice truck. Under carriage gaurds, radiator screens, optional diagnostic display, (so I dont run over the handheld!!). The operators are jazzed.
I was with Toyota Industrial Trucks from almost the very beginning in the USA.
As someone said in a previous post, in the 70's Toyota had a lot of transmission problems and poor radiator design.
In the early 1979 thr 4 series made many improvements with larger clutch drums and improved radiator design and air flow through the counterweight but had a lot of problems with the differential.
The 5 series was introduced in late 1986 and many, many improvements. What a great tuck. Such good quality, the some dealers complained they were not selling enough parts for the series, and yes, parts were expensive. Some were aprehensive of the 4Y engine because of the aluminum head. It has proven to be almost bullet proof.
In 1995 came the 6 series, and a step backwards. Thin side panels, relocated tilt cylinders, etc. Mid series improvements were made but it never was the quality of the 5 series. Proof is the short production life of the series.
Then in 1999 (I think) the 7 series with the new SAS. A lot of glitches at first but was overall a good truck.
A severe accident put me on the disabled list in 2001 and cannot comment on the 8 series, but I assume Toyota has continued with their tradition of producing the best quality product in the industry.
4y and thats all i have to say lol
Howard, the Nissan H20 is the best engine in a lift truck
My experience is that of a supervisor, forklift operator for 34 years, truck driver-transporter and forklift certification instructor. We currently have 30 8 series and an assortment of yales, komatsus and hysters. The newer yales are awkward to operate the controls, (slow response), the older rentals we get don't like cold weather.
The komatsus are lemons like the color, and broken down regularly.
The consensus of our experienced operators is the 8 series is popular because it has good visibility, smooth ride even with solid tires, clutch/brake spring pressure is lighter than most, seatbelt alows twisting to look in reverse, controls are sensitive. Our in-house units are spec'd out with a narrower wheel width than most rentals so they can go in tighter spaces.
i think (am pretty sure) that engine upgrade you are referring to will be an option, a costly one but probably well worth it. as for the 5 series and the representation of other products "amen". if it wasn,t for parts pricing....well.....no respite, got to make money somewhere.
The 5 Series forklift was probably the best forklift ever produced. Im not a fan of the 6-Series especially the ones that came with the 3 L GM engine.
The 4Y engine is also the best engine ever put in a forklift. I doubt anyone will disagree with me on that. The 4.3V6 engine was a mistake and hopefully Toyota will be putting the 1FZ motor in the new 8-Series 8000 -15000 pneumatics. The first 6 Series cushion trucks were crap. They upgraded them in 1997. The 8 series trucks are a lot tougher than the 7-series with much thicker frame metal.
Its funny I dont see any other reps telling me they have a better truck than a Toyota or over 30% market share. Usually the other reps brag about their lower price!
So maybe I'll skip the 8 and 9 series and wait for the 10 ;)
Forkbroker, Its intresting that you would say that, I have had pretty good experiences with the 5 and the 7 series. I will say the 6 series was pretty decent, and I have many 7 series with over 20,000 hours running on the original motor and transmission. The 8 series weak link is the Can Bus wiring, teenie tiny go to heck 28 gauge thin strand all over the bundle, numerous weak or intermittant low side ground issues, just like their 7HBW23 jack. Also the steer axles are a little on the under engineered side, beefier components would be better.
Interesting comments on Toyota. Having bought and sold many over the past 40 years I found the even numbers to be more cost effective than the odd numbers.
The first series had a number of transmission and build issues.
The second series were real peaches - very reliable.
The third series were plagued by transmission problems and even broken transmission castings.
The fourth series were amongst the most reliable I've ever run.
The fifth series - early models - again had transmission issues as early as 1000 hours - the only experience I ever had of Toyota holding their hands up and admitting it by issuing a revised part and a video on how to fit it.
The sixth series were good and pretty bombproof - why didn't they stop there ;)
The 7 series became over complicated with SAS and unreliable - viz head gaskets and swarf from valve washers breaking up and contaminating the hydraulics.
So hopefully with this pedigree the Toyota 8 series will be viewed in years to come as a winner. Haven't bought any yet :)
It looks like every one wants to support there own product that they sell, but in reality all forklifts are basically the same and when you get into the Crown , Hyster/Yale , Mitsubishi/Cat Clark , Nissan, Linde etc then the only difference apart from transmission is the after service. Many companies will tell you there product is better but if you was to strip them down nearly all components will be very similar
Spoken like a true Toyota representative. I wonder what Crown, Yale (Hyster), Mitusbishi (Cat), Clark, Nissan, etc representatives say about their products.
There is no doubt that the Toyota class 1 trucks are superior to everything else on the market. The new 8-Series trucks are the most advanced both in electronics and ergonomcs,not to mention safety.
The IC Cesab is a good fill in for Toyota as they don't build a hydrostatic transmission
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