Heinrich Winzl, GM of Linde (China) and Simon Tang, GM of Linde (China) East Region inaugurate the new logo and new name.

Linde-Xiamen Forklift Truck Co Ltd has changed its name to Linde (China) Forklift Truck Corp Ltd, as part of Linde Group's strategy to expand its reach in the Chinese market.

Simultaneously, the old logo with the word Linde in blue has been replaced with a new logo, bearing the brand name in white against a red background.

Linde (China) general manager Heinrich Winzl told a press conference the group's strategy was to build Linde (China) into Asia's largest production and sales base for materials handling equipment.

Winzl said the word "Xiamen" in the company name could easily cause people to think Linde was only present in Xiamen region, Fujian.

"It does not suit Linde Group's plan for the Chinese market therefore [the] group decided to change its company name to reflect its ambition to increase investment and expand in China," he said.

"Linde Group attaches great importance to Linde (China)'s new name and new logo. It shows that [the] group values the Chinese market and pays attention to it, as it is strategically paramount for Linde's global strategy."

Linde (China) marketing director Antoine Chazelle compared the logo change to that of Lenovo, an information technology company based in New York, USA, saying Lenovo's strategy was to penetrate the global market while Linde's aim was to fortify its foothold and rapidly expand in China.

Linde has increased forklift sales in China from around 100 units in 1998 to 6,000 units in 2004, with an annual growth of more than 25 per cent since 1998. In 2004, Linde achieved a 30 per cent market share in the Chinese high-end forklift market.

Its sales and service network in China now has 32 branches and 12 dealers.