For all the technology offered by today’s lift truck suppliers, the core products themselves are physical pieces of hardware essential for moving goods and materials in warehouses and other facilities. During the depths of the past pandemic year, when many regions were experiencing disruptions or even production shutdowns due to the Covid-19pandemic, acquiring more equipment to run operations was not exactly a high priority, if even feasible.

As a result, it’s not too much of a surprise that our annual Top 20 Lift Truck Suppliers list saw a slight drop in total revenues among the companies who made the list. When looked at cumulatively for all 20 suppliers on the list, total revenue came in at $42.89 billion, down 1.3% from the suppliers’ 2019 total of $43.47 billion. And, if we compare the 2019 total for the slightly different makeup of last year’s Top 20, the drop is 1.6%, down from $43.61 billion.

Either way, a less than 2% drop-off isn’t that bad, considering the magnitude of the global pandemic. This likely speaks to the fact that even with all the pandemic impacts, industries such as food and beverage, as well as e-commerce fulfillment warehouses, were busy getting goods out to consumers, which brings with it the need for lift trucks, especially electric trucks commonly used indoors.

This slight decline in revenue for our Top 20 Lift Truck Suppliers list is consistent with North American data on lift truck industry sales tracked by the Industrial Truck Association (ITA). According to ITA, 2020 forklift truck sales in North America were down by 5.1% compared to 2019. The market decline can be partially attributed to the impact of Covid-19, ITA leadership stated.

“The industrial truck industry had its third best year on record in 2019, and the sales decrease in 2020 with Covid-19 was not unexpected,” Jay Gusler, chairman of the board of directors for ITA and executive vice president of operations for Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas Group, said at the time of the ITA announcement. “Our industry performed well throughout the pandemic thanks to the essential nature of our products and the dedicated associates in our industry.”

Not all classes of trucks saw a decline in ITA’s figures. While Class 5 trucks saw a significant drop of 19.7%, Class 2 and Class 3 trucks saw a small increase from 2019 at 2% and 1.1% respectively. Generally speaking, Class 2 and Class 3 trucks are heavily used in consumer goods and food and beverage industries, which even during the pandemic remained busy keeping goods flowing to consumers.

Among the suppliers in this year’s Top 20 list, there were varying results. Many of the Top 20 saw a modest decline in sales from the previous year, while others actually enjoyed an increase. Since our list is global in nature, some suppliers in China or other parts of Asia may have benefits from an early curve to the pandemic in their key markets, with an earlier lifting of pandemic closures or restrictions, and a return to more robust sales of lift trucks to support materials handling requirements in a resurgent economy.

The annual lift truck survey is based on revenue figures obtained from a questionnaire. As in previous years, it asks for the previous year’s calendar or last full fiscal year revenues related to the sale of lift trucks (see box at the end of the article for more on our criteria).

While not a comprehensive study of lift truck market growth, it does indicate that many of the major suppliers weathered the pandemic quite well, advanced their technologies, and are poised for resumed strong growth for the remainder of 2021.

The Top 10

Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO) again held the No. 1 spot on our list. The company, which includes the Toyota and Raymond brands, saw its revenue decrease from $13.35 billion for 2019, to $12.67 billion for 2020, about a 5% decline. The company sold 265,501 units across all lift truck classes in 2020.

Early in 2020, Toyota completed its North American business unit integration process, which culminated in a single business unit, Toyota Material Handling Inc. (TMH). Some of the new products from TMH included electric trucks featuring Toyota-designed AC motors, as well as two new automated products, a Center-Controlled Rider Automated Forklift and the Core Tow Tractor Automated Forklift.

At No. 2, KION’s 2020 worldwide revenue came in at $6.92 billion, down from the 2019 revenue we listed for them at $7.17 billion. KION reported it sold 198,300 units of all classes worldwide. On the company leadership front, KION appointed key vice presidents in mid-2020. Brandon Flexsenhartook over as vice president of operations in July 2020, succeeding Daniel Schlegel, who was appointed vice president of customer service. David LaDue took over as vice president of sales and deaITA’s lift truck classes

ITA’s lift truck classes

The Industrial Truck Association(ITA, indtrk.org) has defined seven classes of lift trucks, or forklifts, which are defined by the type of engine, work environment, operator position and equipment characteristics.

Lift truck classes include:

Class 1: electric motor trucks with cushion or pneumatic tires

Class 2: electric motor narrow aisle trucks with solid tires

Class 3: electric hand trucks or hand/rider trucks with solid tires

Class 4: internal combustion engine sit down rider forklifts with cushion tires, suitable for indoor use on hard surfaces

Class 5: internal combustion engine sit down rider forklifts with pneumatic tires, suitable for outdoor use on rough surfaces

Class 6: electric or internal combustion engine powered, rider units with the ability to tow (rather than lift) at least 1,000 pounds

Class 7: almost exclusively powered by diesel engines with pneumatic tires, these units are suitable for rough terrain and used outdoors.

Since primarily classes one through five are used in materials handling applications inside the four walls, Modern has only specified those on our supplier table.ler development on July 31, 2020.

In third place, Jungheinrich AG reported revenue for 2020 of $4.55 billion, down slightly from $4.57 billion we listed for them last year. The company reported its incoming orders for 2020 came to 111,400 units.

Mitsubishi Logisnext retained fourth place on our list, with 2020 revenue of $3.78 billion, down from their revenue figure for the previous year of $4.15 billion. The company sold 85,000 units last year, it reported.

Last year was a year of organizational change for Mitsubishi Logisnext. In October 2020, Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas, the parent company for Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA) and UniCarriers Americas Corporation (UniCarriers), announced it was integrating these group company operations within the Americas, going forward as Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas group. At the time, Ken Barina, president of Mitsubishi Logisnext Americas, said the integration allows for a stronger, more efficient organization to support customers and dealers.

Crown Equipment remains in fifth place after reporting $3.62 billion in worldwide sales for its fiscal 2020, down from $3.72 billion the previous year, which represents a 2.7% decrease. On the product front, key announcements from the company included the Crown MPC Series with QuickPick Remote, a semi-automated feature aimed at increasing productivity in low-level order picking, and a new tow tractor, which is capable of switching between manual and automated operation. The company also expanded its “V-Force” battery line and launched a new online store.

Hyster Yale held on to sixth place with $2.81 billion in revenue, down from $3.29 billion for 2019. The company sold approximately 85,500 units in 2020, down from 100,300 units in 2019.

Hyster Yale’s product approach involves modular and scalable product families covering both internal combustion and electric trucks. To name a few, in 2020, the company introduced a new 7-ton to 9-ton, lithium-ion battery electric counterbalanced truck. This truck complements the lower-capacity 2-ton to 3.5-ton lithium-ion version, also launched in 2020. The company also introduced a new reach truck for the Americas market in 2020.

In seventh place, Anhui Heli Co.’s revenues increased from $1.43 billion in 2019, to the $1.93 billion for 2020 revenue, representing a 34% increase. The company sold 220,678 units worldwide in 2020.

Eighth-place Hangcha’s revenues were not available as of press time, so we are placing them steady at the figure provided last year, $1.26 billion. We applied this same policy to five other vendors on the list.

Coming in at ninth is Manitou, which reported 2020 revenue of (converted from Euros) of $1.25 billion for its Material Handling & Access (MHA) division, which makes forklifts, as well as a range of other material handling equipment such as aerial work platforms and manufacturing telehandlers. Last year, the company’s list placing was based on a previous year response, whereas this year, it is based on the MHA divison’s total for 2020, converted to dollars.

Doosan secures the 10th spot this year, with 2020 revenue of $981.2 million, down from $1.16 billion in 2019.

Some up; more down

The rest of the Top 20 also experienced some declines, with others holding steady. Additionally, one new entrant was among the second half of this year’s list.

Clark Material Handling reported 2020 revenue of $705 million, down from $783 million for 2019, making it 11th on our list. In March of 2021, Clark introduced the WPL40 Electric Pallet Jack, which features a lithium-ion battery. In August of 2020, the company partnered with Flux Power to provide its dealer and end-users with lithium-ion power options. Presently, more than 250,000 Clark lift trucks are operating in North America and 350,000 units operating worldwide, according to the company.

At the No. 12 spot is Komatsu, which generated $605 million in 2020 revenue, down from $642 million in 2019. On the product front, the company introduced a large, internal combustion, hydrostatic lift truck (22,000 to 35,000 pound lift capacity) for the U.S. market, and an easy maintenance battery electric lift truck (5,000 to 6,000 pound capacity), for the Japanese market. This year also marks the 100th anniversary for the company.

Hyundai, which includes Hyundai Material Handling, did not respond by press time, so we held it steady at $406 million in lift truck related revenue, which put it into 13th on our list. In April of 2021, the company appointed Lewis Byers as vice president and COO of Hyundai Material Handling Forklift Division.

Also steady on revenue since their number was not available, is Longking Forklift Co., at $343 million in revenue. That puts them into 14th on our list this year.

In our 15th spot is Combilift, which had a growth year, reporting revenue of $366 million, up from $335 for 2019 revenue, which represents 9.3% growth. The company, which has U.S. headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., said its growth has been propelled by the nature of its trucks and their ability to support rapid fulfillment in narrow aisle environments. In 2021, the company launched its Aisle Master OP truck, which can do either bulk handling of pallets, or order picking, with the same unit, in narrow aisles. The company sold 6,477 units in 2020, versus 6,400 in 2019.

At No. 16 is EP Equipment, which offers the Big Joe brand of forklifts. The company showed healthy growth, reporting $359 million in 2020 sales, up from $310 million for 2019, a 16% increase. The company reports it sold 130,000 units in 2020.

The new entrant to our Top 20 at No. 17 is Noblelift, whose North American organization is based near Chicago. It reported 2020 revenue of $150 million, up from $136.4 million in 2019, which represents 10% growth.

Slotting in at No. 18 on our list is Luigong, with revenue of $94 million. Its product line includes electric forklifts, internal combustion forklifts, tow tractors and automatic guided vehicles.

At No. 19 is Hubtex, whose revenue listing remains unchanged at $72 million.

Rounding things out at No. 20 is Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co., reporting 2020 revenue of $60.6 million, down from $77.3 million in 2019. The company said it sold 2,469 powered industrial truck units in 2020.

With the pandemic appearing to be subsiding, the lift truck market stands to benefit from resurgent economies and the steadily increasing need to move more goods in the coming years. Most industry analyst firms project decent, single-digit growth the lift truck market through the mid-2020s, with estimates ranging from 3% to the 7% in terms of compound annual growth rate over the next few years.

The suppliers on our list stand to benefit from a resumption of growth at this pace, even as the larger suppliers expand on the technologies they offer, including fully autonomous lift trucks. Increasingly, some of the top suppliers in the lift truck market are no longer just “hardware” vendors, they are also suppliers of technology solutions that help improve fulfillment operations and materials handling processes.

How the suppliers are ranked

To be eligible for Modern’s annual Top 20 lift truck suppliers ranking, companies must manufacture and sell lift trucks in at least one of the Industrial Truck Association’s seven truck classes: electric motor rider; electric motor hand trucks; internal combustion engine; pneumatic tire; electric and internal combustion engine tow tractors; and rough terrain lift trucks.

Rankings are based on worldwide revenue from powered industrial trucks during each company’s most recent fiscal year. Revenue figures submitted in foreign currency are calculated using the Dec. 31, 2020 exchange rate. Percentage changes for certain vendors may vary from figures or percentages in annual reports or other sources, due to currency conversion issues and timing.