As part of its global restructuring plans, Nissan has reorganised its UK forklift business with the creation of Nissan Forklift GB (NFGB).

Located at the Nissan Parts Distribution Centre in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, the new business unit will work closely with Nissan's UK dealer network and with Nissan Forklift Europe in the Netherlands.

Nissan's goal, says NFGB general manager Derek Robson, is to strengthen its market position and profitability in a "tough market".

"Separating the car and the materials handling companies allows NFGB to set up a business dedicated to materials handling. Therefore, everyone is focused on this activity. It will keep us close to our customers. It also creates shorter - and ... quicker - decisionmaking channels, allowing us to be more proactive in the marketplace," Robson explains.

He adds that the reach of Nissan's dealer network in the UK is growing and that NFGB is actively seeking quality dealers to support existing dealerships.

"We will be maintaining staff at existing levels and hope all of our existing sales support team transfer with us," Robson says.

Robson also quashes rumours floating in Forkliftaction.com's Discussion Forums that Nissan is planning to merge its forklift business with another company, saying that "Nissan Forklifts Europe is committed to the dealer network and have no plans to alter this".

Nissan Motor Co Ltd spun off its forklift division in October 2010 after months of preparation, to better position its industrial machinery business for sustainable growth (Forkliftaction.com News #473).

Most of the division's 2,500 employees transferred to the new company, Nissan Forklift Co Ltd in Yohohama-shi, Kanagawa. The president of the company is Akira Shiki.

Sales from the forklift business are about 1% of Nissan Motor's group sales. Nissan Forklift Co Ltd has factories in Japan, Spain, Sweden and the US.