Komatsu Forklift Co will double the number of its sales agents in China from 15 to 30 by 2008.

A Nikkei report, confirmed by a Forkliftaction.com News source within Komatsu, indicates the company is preparing to fully enter the Chinese market. Apart from its plans for expanding the sales force, the company plans to begin producing forklifts in China by October 2005.

Komatsu's current 15 sales representatives are concentrated in the coastal areas of Guangzhou and Shanghai. Under expansion plans, the company will add sales representatives in the north and northeast, including Shandong Province, Hebei Province and Liaoning Province.

The new agents would focus mainly on promoting Komatsu's 2-3 tonne capacity forklifts, and would focus on local firms and Japanese companies.

Through this strategy, the company hopes to sell 6000 forklifts a year and secure a 20 per cent share of the market for foreign manufacturers. It currently has about 7 per cent of the Chinese market.