KION North America employees with U.S. Representatives Jim Clyburn and Rep. Mark Sanford.

Volvo Car US Operations has taken delivery of its first forklift from KION North America.

In January, KION North America announced an agreement with the global automotive manufacturer to supply the materials handling equipment for the company's first American factory, located in Berkeley County, South Carolina.

KION North America is located close to the new Volvo factory, which will be the global production home of the all-new S60 Sedan.

The fleet includes forklifts, reach trucks and tow tractors, all provided and serviced by KION North America.

"Not only is this the fifth Volvo factory that KION Group is supplying equipment to around the world, but this will be the first complete lithium ion fleet in automotive manufacturing in North America," says Vincent Halma, president and CEO of KION North America.

An environmentally friendly alternative to traditional lead-acid batteries, the lithium ion technology underpins the partnership and gave KION the competitive edge.

"It's the next generation of materials handling power solutions," says Halma.

"Our goal is to have the least intrusive footprint as possible," says Katarina Fjording, vice president of purchasing and manufacturing for Volvo. "By 2025, we aspire to be carbon neutral, and implementing lithium ion powered-industrial trucks at our facility is a big step towards that."

In addition to supplying and servicing the equipment, KION North America is also hosting training at their Summerville facility for all of the Volvo equipment operators throughout the duration of the five-year agreement.

The Volvo factory will be capable of producing up to 120,000 cars per year.