MHI to Establish Forklift Truck Manufacture Company in China

The new company, wholly owned by MHI and capitalized at US$37.5 million, will be located in the Dalian Economic and Technological Development Zone. Construction of the plant will get under way in March, with completion scheduled for September 2009.

The new company will manufacture MHI's newest model forklift trucks with handling capacities between 1 and 3 tons. Initially core components will be provided from Japan and the new firm will produce major welded components. Since many Japanese affiliate companies, which are capable of manufacturing high-quality parts, operate in and around Dalian, the company will procure other sheet metal parts locally. The parts procured in China will not only be supplied to the new company in Dalian; plans also call for parts provision to other MHI forklift truck manufacturing plants located outside of China. Once business has gotten on track, the company will gradually increase its production models and also mull market expansion to Russia, other CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) member countries and Southeast Asia.

Today the Chinese market for engine-powered forklift trucks has grown into the world's largest, surpassing the North American market and accounting for a 22% global share. While overall demand has slowed due to the recent financial crisis, the Russian market, in addition to the Chinese market, are basically in a long-term increasing trend. These favorable prospects spurred MHI’s decision to add a new company in Dalian to its previously existing three major forklift truck production bases: General Machinery & Special Vehicle Headquarters in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan; Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift America Inc. (MCFA) in Houston, Texas; and Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift Europe B.V. in Almere, the Netherlands. With its four bases in place, MHI will move forward in establishing a global production and procurement structure for forklift trucks fully optimized to today’s new business environment.