A Peterstaler truck with the Kinglifter behind.

Terberg Machines BV has delivered EUR600,000 (USD758,639) of Kinglifter S1500 truck-mounted forklifts to mineral water producer Peterstaler, in Bad Peterstal, south Germany.

Export manager Bouwe Faber said Peterstaler's forklift drivers tested four different forklift brands before choosing 25 KingLifters.

"In the German mineral water industry, Peterstaler is well known for buying truck-mounted forklifts after consulting drivers and investigating the whole market before deciding," Faber said, adding that Kinglifters were not the cheapest machines on the market.

"Our competition is aware of this and, for us being in the market for only a few years, it is recognition of the quality of our organisation. It will make some people think.

"I do not find it important what the competition is thinking but, for me, the signal to the rest of the German market is very important," Faber said.

Terberg Machines, part of the Terberg Group, a family owned company founded 140 years ago, produces refuse collection systems and transportable forklift trucks. The group's turnover for 2004 was EUR450 million (USD569 million). It is made up of 22 companies.

The Kinglifter forklifts were bought by Terberg in 2002 after the former owner encountered financial difficulties marketing them.