Examining the runes for predictions on future UK and worldwide forklift growth is becoming more difficult than ever as new forces enter the marketplace to upset the auguries. So far this year the UK forklift market has shown some surprises, with strong first half order growth of 15% this year compared with the same period last year. Extrapolating that to the whole of 2014 would see UK orders up 5% year on year to 30,500 orders, believes BITA. All this, curiously, is set against a background of anaemic UK industrial output growth and uncertain global business outlook. The order figures are looking even better for the first nine months of 2014, according to Jungheinrich Group’s Market Intelligence, which shows global order intake up 9% to 818,600 trucks, with western Europe doing even better with growth up 12.6% compared with 2013.
Given the warnings about economic slowdown in Europe, China and Japan why do these forklift figures appear to be defying economic logic and is there something else further down the line that could boost sales? One explanation could be the gathering momentum to re-shore outsourced production back from the Far East to Europe, or simply the wish of overseas truck makers to manufacture close to their markets. Unicarriers is a case in point. This industrial truck company was formed in 2011 through a merger of Atlet, Nissan Forklift and TCM, who this Autumn unveiled four new trucks and news on future manufacturing plans.
The company is moving towards local production for local markets so that from January 2015 it will produce its GX range of counterbalance trucks in Pamplona, Spain, rather than Japan. This is part of a strategy to get closer to customers to offer them shorter delivery times and more flexible customisation for European needs, as well as better prices. The aim is that very soon 90% of European sales will have been trucks made in Europe.
Sometimes truck sales can be boosted by dint of the industry’s own technical advances, rather than by any other normal forces at work. One such candidate looks like the major breakthrough in truly clean truck emissions from the collaboration between Honda and Briggs Equipment, with Government financial backing to produce the world’s first “truly green” engine emissions. What this remarkable breakthrough is likely to deliver is an initial boost to sales of new trucks as operators move away from conventional truck motive power like diesel, LPG and electric. The driver will be ever-tightening legislation on emissions control, particularly for diesel, which is pushing up the cost of engines. This year has seen the introduction of the EU Stage IV legislation governing non-road diesel engines to cut NOx emissions by 80%, and one diesel engine producer, Doosan, has met the challenge by producing its G2 diesel engine based on a new combustion system that dispenses with the need to have a costly particulates filter. But the latest EU emissions’ initiative still means that sub 2.5 micron particulates will be emitted, and these are killers.
Concern over global warming will inevitably favour truck emission development that not only means clean emissions at point of use but also at point of fuel production. The Honda/Briggs project meets that need. The motive power is unique for two reasons; a converted Yale forklift uses lithium-ion battery technology (80v) charged by a hydrogen fuel cell and secondly it uses hydrogen generated from solar power via an onsite electrolyser rather than a conventional natural gas process. The innovative technology also means it fits in a standard DIN size battery compartment.
The project is aimed at kicking the lead-acid battery market into touch. Richard Close, Briggs Equipment’s CEO, says: “The project has proved what can be achieved. The challenge is now to extend this as widely as possible.” In its current form it would not be viable for small fleets but in time, with the benefit of scale and further efficiencies, the market appeal will broaden.
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