Doosan Infracore marked the sale of its 300,000th forklift to one of Korea's leading equipment rental companies with a ceremony and a gold key.
Fork Corporation received a plaque of appreciation, a warranty certificate and a "good luck key" as a token of appreciation for buying Doosan's historic forklift.
Manager for overseas marketing in Doosan Infracore's industrial vehicle business group Jang-Yong Moon said the "99.9 per cent pure gold" key was a symbolic wish for wealth and prosperity in Korea.
Doosan Infracore has reached other milestones this year. In June, forklift sales surpassed 2,000 a month for the first time and aggregate sales in China passed 5,000 units in May. The company started producing forklifts in 1968 under the Daewoo brand. Korean forklift production takes place at two sites in Incheon.
The company attributed its success to in-house production of "technologically advanced" machines, a line-up of more than 80 globally marketed models and a network of 500-plus dealers in more than 90 countries.
Moon said Doosan Infracore's key technological advances included "ergonomic design, AC control technology, noise and vibration control and energy savings".
"We have a reliability centre, equipped with test machines, to provide reliability of forklift components," he said.
Doosan said in a statement it planned to replicate its success in China's excavator market with forklifts by developing machines to meet local needs.
In July, mass production of G-series forklifts, designed for China's mid-segment market, began at Doosan's Yantai plant, in China.
Doosan's construction equipment division tapped into the Chinese market by establishing a Chinese plant in 1996. In 2004, 20,000 units of construction equipment were made and sold in China, taking the company to the top ranks of the Chinese construction equipment market, Moon said.
Doosan Infracore started producing and selling forklifts in China in 1998.
Moon names "outstanding performance" and competitive prices as specific needs of Chinese end users.