Komatsu Forklift USA Inc (KFI) has replaced the Kalmar AC forklift brand with a new brand; Tusk Lift Trucks.

Marketing coordinator Brandy Gruber told Forkliftaction.com News that the Kalmar AC brand, which would be phased out in a few months, belonged to Kalmar AC, a wholly owned subsidiary of KFI.

"In 1988, Kalmar Industries bought AC Material Handling (formerly Allis-Chalmers) to establish a distribution network in North America. In 1993, Komatsu began manufacturing Kalmar AC trucks for Kalmar Industries," she said.

"[Then] in 1999, Kalmar Industries decided to pull out of the North American market except for very large trucks. KFI bought Kalmar AC from Kalmar Industries and ran it as a separate distribution network, manufacturing the brand in Covington, Georgia," Gruber said.

A Forkliftaction.com News source said KFI had promised Kalmar Industries it would stop using the Kalmar name by March 2006.  

Atlanta-based "ideation corporation" BrightHouse was asked to develop the new brand name.

"Through their research they found significant potential for the new brand to own positioning in the marketplace as the ‘smart buy’," Gruber said.

Eric Kobori, KFI’s vice president of marketing, said Tusk forklifts were 'smart buys' as they were built for forklift buyers who understood that the real cost of owning a forklift was more than just the acquisition price.