TMHE president Håkan Dahllöf

Toyota Material Handling Europe (TMHE) is taking steps to protect its business in Central Europe as the industrial truck market there declines by more than 50%.

Jeffrey Schenck, TMHE's spokesperson, tells Forkliftaction.com News the global economic downturn hit Central Europe's industrial truck market "a little later" than in other parts of Europe but is nevertheless affected.

"When we compare the figures for Q1 2009 to those of Q1 2008, we see a market drop of more than 50% for the entire industrial truck market in Central Europe. The downturn is affecting all businesses, including our own," he says.

Schenck says that, in 2008, the Czech Republic, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian and Slovakian markets accounted for about 10% of the European industrial truck market. "While it is not our policy to release sales figures and market shares for specific regions, we can say that Central Europe is an important market for us," he says.

TMHE is taking measures to protect its business, including optimising market coverage in Central Europe and offering a range of services and solutions, like short-term rental and used equipment, to allow businesses to cope with the changing market conditions.

Schenck says Poland and the Czech Republic are TMHE's largest markets in Central Europe in terms of volume.

"The Polish economy appears to be relatively well placed to survive the downturn. We believe that, even in the face of this tough economy, demand will continue to be sustained but at a lower level."

TMHE president Håkan Dahllöf says the organisation is committed to its customers in Central Europe.

"The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Slovak Republic are vital to our overall European business strategy.

"Businesses in these five countries and across Europe can count on Toyota Material Handling as a reliable business partner. In today's turbulent environment, our customers can rely on the global resources and expertise of the world leader in materials handling."

TMHE's network of companies in Central Europe provides a complete range of Toyota counterbalanced forklifts and BT warehouse equipment. The range includes service contracts, short-term rentals, used trucks and Toyota I_Site, a tailored fleet management system.

Toyota Material Handling Polska, headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, started operations in 2008 and has branch offices in Poznań, Będzin, Wrocław and Gdynia. The company built on the strengths of the BT organisation.

Toyota Material Handling CZ also launched in 2008 and built on BT's knowledge and coverage of the Czech market. It is based in Rudná, west of Prague.

Toyota Material Handling Hungary combined the strengths and resources of the previous Toyota and BT organisations when it began operations in 2008. It is located just outside Budapest, in Vecsés, close to the airport.

Toyota Material Handling Romania, in Bucharest, opened in 2007.
Toyota Material Handling Slovensko, based in Bratislava, started operations in 2008.