▶ Concluded a contract to supply 439 forklifts with a local dealer, the outcome of expanding the sales network in the southeastern part of the United States
▶ Received orders for 2,282 units in North America in 2 months, resulting in a 5.9% market share increase
▶ “Starting this year, Hyundai Genuine will be responsible for the forklift business and strengthen competitiveness through aggressive investment.”
Hyundai Genuine, the holding company of Hyundai Heavy Industries Group’s construction equipment unit, is aggressively making inroads in the North American market, the world’s second-largest market for industrial vehicles (forklifts).
Hyundai Genuine announced that it recently signed a large supply contract with Thompson Tractor Company, a large dealer in North America, for 439 forklifts including ▲ 329 small units (25LC-7A/30L-7A, etc.), ▲ 42 medium units (50L-9/80D-9, etc.), ▲ 5 large units (110D-9/160D-9), and ▲ 63 electric models (18BT-9U) /25BC-9).
Hyundai Genuine plans to deliver the contracted forklifts to Thompson sequentially beginning June, and they will be used in factories and warehouses located in Georgia, southeastern part of the United States. Established in 1957, Thompson is a large construction equipment dealer that rents and sells excavators, forklifts, and parts in Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
Including the contract, Hyundai Genuine won orders for 2,282 forklifts in the North American market in January and February this year, an increase of about 300% compared to last year. The company currently has a backlog of more than 5,300 units in the region alone. The orders are expected to impact the company’s performance positively since they are mostly for large forklifts, which have higher margins.
In February this year, Hyundai Genuine’s share of the North American forklift market was 5.9%, up 3.2%p from 2.7% in the first half of last year. Hyundai Genuine’s uptrend is considered to be the result of identifying the growing trend of the North American market, which accounts for 19% of the global forklift market, reorganizing the sales network in areas where sales are poor, and carrying out customized sales activities.
According to World Industrial Truck Statistics (WITS), global forklift sales stood at 1.29 million units in 2021, a 34% increase from 2020 thanks to a boom in logistics caused by an explosion in e-commerce amid the pandemic. In the case of the North American region, 246,000 forklifts were sold in 2021, a 57% increase compared to the previous year.
To penetrate the North American market, Hyundai Genuine authorized Thompson, a large US dealer, to be the exclusive distributor, expanded its sales network in the southeastern part of the US such as Alabama and Tennessee, and established a separate aftersales service team to strengthen service in the United States. Moreover, the company improved its profitability by changing the equipment delivery from existing container ships to RORO (Roll On/Roll Off) as an advance response to soaring container ship freight rates.
“In the forklift market, it is important to understand preemptively the market trends and customer requirements and make bold investments and quick decisions. We will strengthen our competitiveness further by expanding the global sales network and investing intensively in future technologies such as hydrogen and autonomous forklifts since we have entered the forklift business directly,” a Hyundai Genuine official said.
Hyundai Genuine acquired the industrial vehicle (forklift) business from its subsidiary Hyundai Construction Equipment on January 1. It plans to increase its corporate value as an intermediate holding company through synergy with the existing functional part business. <End>
■ Photo : A 16-ton heavy-duty forklift (160D-9) that Hyundai Genuine plans to deliver to Thompson Tractor Company.