After a period of record growth heading into the 21st century, the US forklift industry experienced a significant slump in 2001 and into this year, but there is light at the end of the tunnel, manufacturers claim.

Toyota Material Handling USA sales and marketing vice president Jim McManus told Purchasing Magazine Online that the US recession was "bottoming out".

"We're starting to see a slight improvement and, by the end of the year, we expect to see the upturn be even more definite," he said.

Hyster Company marketing director Scott Alexander said the forklift industry led in downturns and lagged in recoveries, but Hyster was performing ahead of 2002 forecasts.

"What we're seeing has us 'bullishly optimistic'. We are starting to see capacity utilisation up where it's supposed to be, and pent-up demand is starting to return," he said.

Mr McManus said the US forklift industry had the capacity to produce 190,000 forklifts annually, but current demand was 135,000. This had seen some manufacturers "slowing down" and, in some cases, reducing to four-day manufacturing weeks.

Mr Alexander said the industry was focusing on designing forklifts for operators, not buyers. Mr McManus said the industry had also begun consolidating dealerships as the industry changed.