The new Mecano Continental headquarters located next to the A30 highway.

Spanish rough-terrain forklift specialist Mecano Continental SA has moved to larger headquarters in Murcia, Spain.

The 96,875 square foot (9,000 square metre) factory is next to the Mast Explorer brand manufacturer's old factory in the Base 2000 Industrial Park, next to the A30 Highway and 40 minutes' drive from Alicante Airport.

Mecano's 68 employees have moved to the new premises, where design and manufacturing of Mecano's Mast Explorer rough-terrain forklift will now take place. The move was planned to keep pace with increasing demand, Mecano said in a statement.

The new building has a showroom, and meeting rooms for training dealers and technicians. Dealers and technicians worldwide would meet at the new headquarters. Mecano has dealers in more than 40 countries.

A Mast Explorer forklift operating in the centre of Murcia.

CEO Francisco Tomás Sánchez said sales in 2006 had increased about 50 per cent from last year. "After the first quarter, the increase was 56 per cent." Tomás Sánchez said the factory's automated production line had a capacity of 3,000 forklifts a year.

"The warehouse can stock up to 200 units." Mecano also manufactures electric and internal combustion counterbalanced forklifts for sale in five continents.