Wolfgang Degenhard

The year 2006 was an unprecedented year in terms of the volume of materials handling vehicles produced and sold worldwide, says world ranking list author Wolfgang Degenhard.

In "A Booming Business Spreads its Wings: World Ranking List 2006/2007", dhf-intralogistik editor Degenhard says experts agree that the growth of international trade and the booming logistics industry, which is dependent on materials handling equipment, have contributed to the growth.

According to dhf-intralogistik's research, 855,000 materials handling vehicles were sold in 2006/07, 14% more than in 2005/06. The highest growth rates were recorded in the Asian market (19%), followed by Europe (16%) and North America (8%). Eastern Europe grew 36% while Western Europe recorded a 13% growth rate.

The 36% growth rate in Eastern Europe applies to both counterbalanced trucks and warehouse forklifts. Russia, Poland, the Ukraine and the Baltic States had the highest growth rates.

Degenhard points out that the figures provided in his commentary to the world ranking list are "as accurate as possible" but can't be fully exhaustive as some companies do not publish their net sales and/or earnings. This includes major manufacturers like Fantuzzi and JCB.

Italian forklift manufacturer Lugli, which was ranked 28th in the 2004/05 ranking list but disappeared from the last two lists, could re-emerge as a new company in a future list. Degenhard says the company, which was facing insolvency proceedings, has been acquired by a former dealer and will continue operations under the new name of Lugli Factor.

Shinko, which ranked 34th in the 2004/05 list and was also missing in the more recent rankings, will not be included in any future list as it sold its materials handling activities to Nacco's Japanese subsidiary, Sumitomo Nacco.

"Reactions from our readership and our own research result in the world ranking list continually changing," Degenhard explains.

"This time the list has seen three new arrivals - the Chinese company Baoli, the Italian warehousing technology specialist OMG and the German company Magaziner with their multi-purpose turret trucks."

He adds that for forthcoming ranking lists, the authors expect mainly Asian companies to join the list "provided [they supply] the necessary information".

"The reason is very simple - the strong economic growth in the Asian area."

Chinese manufacturers like Dalian, Noblelift and Ningbo were asked to provide company information so that Degenhard and his colleagues could consider them for the latest world ranking list, but they did not respond to the offer.

"I believe there are some more important Asian manufacturers we do not know about," Degenhard says.

Manufacturers that would like to see their names in the dhf-intralogistik magazine's annual world ranking list must provide certain information:

• Value of full year industrial truck sales
• Total full year corporation sales
• Employee numbers
• Company history
• Interesting company events
• New product lines
• Interesting facts for dhf readers

Click here for the Top 40 forklift manufacturers for 2006/07.

Email degenhard@pr-aktiv.de for a copy of "A Booming Business Spreads its Wings: World Ranking List 2006/2007".