The market for industrial trucks is correlated with macroeconomic conditions. The statements below should therefore be read in the context of the conditions described above. If the performance of the global economy is adversely impacted by unforeseen exogenous factors, the consequences will also affect the industrial trucks market. From the current perspective, it is not possible to determine the extent, the timing or the likelihood of these exogenous factors.
Market upturn set to continue worldwide in 2011
The upturn in the global market for industrial trucks will continue in 2011. Despite its slower pace compared with 2010, the economic recovery will spill over into the markets.
The level achieved in western Europe in 2010 remains significantly below that experienced in the past, despite a rise of 23 per cent. Because the level is well below that needed to meet replacement requirements, there is certainly pent-up demand in this area – particularly as capacity utilisation and use of the trucks in the market are expected to continue to rise in 2011. The KION Group therefore expects the market in western Europe to improve again in 2011 and to approach the level that has been calculated as necessary to meet replacement needs. Eastern Europe will also maintain its growth trend, particularly as it is driven by the recovery in the Russian market.
The rapidly growing markets in China and Brazil, which are already far ahead of their 2008 levels, will enter a phase of normalisation in 2011. The KION Group believes both markets will slightly improve on the levels they achieved in 2010 but they will not achieve the high growth rates of 2010 again.
Given the recovery of the markets described above and the growth in other key regions such as North America and Japan, the global market is expected to expand by 9 per cent to more than 860,000 units in 2011. The KION Group believes the improvement will be even greater in 2012 as a result of the continued positive forecasts for the world's economies.
