2107 was yet another good year for forklift truck sales in North America. In 2017 the industry sold more than a quarter million units.
This number represents a 9.5% increase from 2016 and a 12.2% increase over 2015.
“Reaching the quarter-million unit mark in sales is a major milestone for the industry,” said Brian Feehan, president of the Industrial Truck Association (ITA).
All truck classes demonstrated an increase from 2016, including a 19% growth in the internal combustion class 5 trucks. Overall, electric products accounted for approximately 64% of the market in 2017.
Previously, 2015 was an all-time high for the industry with 225,534 units sold.
“The 2017 sales numbers of 253,146 exceeded most industry expectations,” said Feehan, who noted the continued expansion of e-commerce and advancements in technology coupled with solid U.S. and global economic performance as contributing factors to growth.
“In 2015 our industry contributed over $25 billion annually to the U.S. GDP and supported approximately 209,000 U.S. jobs,” said Scott Johnson, chairman of the ITA board of directors and vice president of marketing and sales for CLARK Material Handling Company.”
