Gordon Riske

KION Group AG, which celebrated the 20th anniversary of its presence in China last week, wants to focus more on Asia.

The leading European forklift manufacturer says it will "systematically expand its sales and service network" to boost its marketshare in Asia.

"By setting up KION South Asia (Forkliftaction.com News #562), our new entity in Singapore, the KION Group has put in place the organisational structure that will enable it to unlock the full potential of the market in south and south-east Asia," said CEO Gordon Riske in Xiamen, southern China, last Friday.

KION, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, is Europe's largest specialist supplier of forklifts, warehouse trucks and associated services.

"Our many years of experience in China are also benefiting us in other parts of Asia," Riske added. "Our goal is to carry on expanding our marketshare in Asia and to acquire additional customers across the region. To this end, we are constantly extending the local sales and service networks of the KION Group's global brands Linde, STILL and Baoli."

Riske highlighted the strategic partnership with Weichai Power, which was formed in 2012 (Forkliftaction.com News #581). "Our strategic alliance is strengthening both partners. It offers us the opportunity to break into new areas of business and to leverage synergies for our mutual benefit."

Weichai Power's involvement with the KION Group and Linde Hydraulics is the largest direct Chinese investment in Germany to date. The company, which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, invested a total of EUR738 million (USD925 million). The strategic anchor investor then increased its stake in KION from 25 to 30% at the end of June 2013 as part of the group's IPO (Forkliftaction.com News #622).

During the first nine months of 2013, KION companies sold a record 12,577 trucks in China, up by 8% compared with the corresponding period of 2012.

The revenue generated in this period came to EUR237.8 million (USD327 million). Around 3,200 people are employed by KION in China, of whom more than 1,200 work in manufacturing and approximately 1,500 work in sales and service.

After 20 years in China, KION has local research and development centres, two manufacturing plants and a sales and service network of over 100 outlets nationwide.

KION claims its Linde brand makes it the leading international manufacturer in the premium segment and that it is the market leader for electric forklifts and warehouse trucks.

It says its total share of the Chinese market for industrial trucks is about 7%.
Globally, the group employs more than 21,000 people. In 2012, KION generated revenue of approximately EUR4.56 billion (USD6.27 billion). It is represented in more than 100 countries and its global marketshare is around 15%.