A pragmatic approach

Manitou is continuing to make inroads into the industrial market in the UK, the company's executives told HSS editor Simon Duddy

While best known as a manufacturer of rough terrain vehicles with a strong brand in the construction and agriculture sectors, Manitou recently released industrial forklifts in the UK and has stepped up its bid to win business in this sector.

Ivor Binns, CEO of Manitou UK says: "We are taking a pragmatic approach and leveraging our dealer network which is strong in construction and agriculture to introduce our range of industrial trucks." Designed and developed by Manitou in collaboration with the company's technical partner, the range is assembled in China. There are 12 models available - 6 diesel and 6 LPG - with capacities from 1.5 to 3.5t, covering three different chassis and mast sizes. The diesel units are powered by Yanmar engines and the gas units by Nissan engines.

Binns continues: "We have a strong network talking to these customers and while they will not be running huge forklift fleets, they will need industrial trucks for agricultural packing houses etc.

The important thing is that we have a brand they trust and machines that are reliable and smartly priced." Manitou also has a minority of dealers with more significant industrial fleets. One South East based dealer services 1,200 industrial trucks on a contract hire basis.

Jean-Christophe Giroux, Manitou president & CEO said: "This is 1,200 trucks to be replaced over time, so it is potentially very significant business and this dealer is not one of a kind. The dealer sees our MSIs and small access platforms as having potential also.

"It is an education process for us. For them, brand is not the primary driver, it is reliability of product.

"They look at how service orientated the manufacturer is, and the machine itself is the cherry on top. As manufacturers we are into the specifications and the products, but in industry, it is the reverse. We can learn a lot from them as we grow as a service focused organisation, but without compromising on product quality."