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Forklift Manufacturing in the US - Market Research Report (2014-2029)

Caleb Clark Caleb Clark New York, United States Last Updated: July 2024 NAICS OD4919

Revenue

$12.9bn

2024

$12.9bn

Past 5-Year Growth

Profit

$XXX.Xm

Employees

28,771

Businesses

302

Wages

$X.Xbn

Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry analysis

The Forklift Manufacturing industry primarily manufactures forklifts, also known as industrial trucks, which are small- to midsize material-handling vehicles used to lift and carry heavy loads from one location to another. Forklifts are mainly used by construction, manufacturing and freight-handling industries. Growth in these industries underpins demand for forklifts produced by manufacturers. Revenue growth has been stunted overall because of suspended trade and industrial production activity amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many companies suspended their operations temporarily because of government restrictions. Still, restrictions have substantially eased, enabling activity within the industrial production sector to resume. Still, industry revenue has been shrinking at a CAGR of 0.6% through the end of 2024 to reach $12.9 billion, including an expected dip of 0.7% in 2024 alone.

Trends and Insights

  • The industry weathered rising interest rates. Revenue slumped slightly thanks to expanding nonresidential markets, which mitigated the loss from depressed needs in residential construction markets.
  • Electric forklifts have become more popular. Consumer preferences for environmentally friendly products have made companies shift focus, leading to a boost in electrical products.
  • Manufacturers are located near prominent downstream manufacturers. The Great Lakes have served as a prime location as mass car-producing companies such as Ford and General Motors depend heavily on forklifts and conveying equipment.
  • Purchase costs form a basis of competition. Internal competition is based primarily on the strength and quality of dealers, brand loyalty, after-sale service, price, performance, quality and the cost of ownership over the lift truck's useful life.
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Everything you need in one report

  • Reliable market estimates from 2014-2029
  • Competitive analysis, industry segmentation, financial benchmarks
  • Powerful SWOT, Porter’s Five Forces and risk management frameworks
  • Online membership platform with PDF, Word, Excel and PPT exports

Industry Overview

Market size and recent performance (2014-2029)

Industry revenue has declined at a CAGR of 0.6 % over the past five years, to reach an estimated $12.9bn in 2024.

Trends and Insights

Developing downstream markets boosts demand

  • Business investment in machinery and increased industrial production drove demand for forklifts used in manufacturing. Booming utility construction helped to shore up demand for forklifts used in construction.
  • Additional trends and insights available with purchase

Industry outlook (2024-2029)

Market size is projected to grow over the next five years.

Trends and Insights

Downstream markets will improve and expand

  • Forklift manufacturers benefit from more robust demand from its major downstream markets, including freight and transportation, manufacturing, construction, mining and retail. US manufacturing, wholesale and retail companies will devote significant resources to improving inventory management to better compete.

Biggest companies in the Forklift Manufacturing in the US

Company
Market Share (%)
2024
Revenue ($m)
2024
Profit ($m)
2024
Profit Margin (%)
2024
Crown Equipment Corporation
886.9
48.6
5.5
Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.
583.9
3.0
0.5
Kion Group AG
193.8
8.4
4.3

To view the market share and analysis for all 3 top companies in this industry, view purchase options.

Products & Services Segmentation

Forklift Manufacturing in the US

Products & Services

Industry revenue is measured across several distinct product and services lines, including Internal combustion engine work trucks, Motorized hand-guided work trucks and Electric operator-riding work trucks. Internal combustion engine work trucks is the largest segment of the Forklift Manufacturing in the US.

Trends and Insights

Internal combustion engine work trucks are losing steam

  • This segment includes Class 4 and 5 forklifts where the driver sits during operation. These are the type of trucks most people associate with forklifts. The need for these products spiked in 2023 as the commercial construction sector grew for the first time since the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
  • More insights available in the full report

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Competitors

  • There are no industries to display.

Complementors

  • Industrial Building Construction in the US
  • Forklift & Conveyor Manufacturing in the US
  • Power Tools & Other General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing in the US
  • SUV & Light Truck Manufacturing in the US

International industries

  • Forklift & Conveyor Manufacturing in Canada
  • Conveyor and Crane Manufacturing in Australia
  • Lifting & Handling Equipment Manufacturing in the UK

View all industries in United States

Table of Contents

About this industry

Industry definition

Companies in this industry primarily manufacture forklifts, which are also known as industrial trucks. Forklifts include truck-type and hand-type pallet movers, skid jacks and portable stackers. Forklifts can load material and transport it over short distances and are used heavily in the construction, manufacturing and freight logistics sectors. This industry’s operations also include the manufacture and sale of parts and attachments for forklifts.

What's included in this industry?

Manufacturing electric operator-riding work trucksManufacturing motorized hand-guided work trucksManufacturing internal combustion engine work trucksManufacturing parts and attachments for industrial trucks

Companies

Crown Equipment CorporationHyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.Kion Group AG

Purchase this report to view all 3 major companies in this industry.

Related Terms

LIFT TRUCKNARROW-AISLING CAPABILITIESLOAD ENGAGEMENT

Industry Code

NAICS 2017

NAICS 33392 - Forklift Manufacturing in the US

Performance

Get an indication of the industry's health through historical, current and forward-looking trends in the performance indicators that make or break businesses.

Analyst insights

The industry weathered rising interest rates. Revenue slumped slightly thanks to expanding nonresidential markets, which mitigated the loss from depressed needs in residentia...

In this chapter (4)

  • Current Performance
  • Outlook
  • Volatility
  • Life Cycle

Key metrics

  • Annual Revenue, Recent Growth, Forecast, Revenue Volatility
  • Number of Employees, Recent Growth, Forecast, Employees per Business, Revenue per Employee
  • Number of Businesses, Recent Growth, Forecast, Employees per Business, Revenue per Business
  • Total Profit, Profit Margin, Profit per Business

Charts

  • Revenue, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Employees, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Businesses, including historical (2014-2023) and forecast (2024-2029)
  • Profit, including historical (2014-2024)
  • Industry Volatility vs. Revenue Growth
  • Industry Life Cycle

Detailed analysis

  • Trends in supply, demand and current events that are driving current industry performance
  • Expected trends, economic factors and ongoing events that drive the industry's outlook
  • Key success factors for businesses to overcome volatility
  • How contribution to GDP, industry saturation, innovation, consolidation, and technology and systems influence the industry's life cycle phase.

Products and Markets

Learn about an industry's products and services, markets and trends in international trade.

Analyst insight

Electric forklifts have become more popular. Consumer preferences for environmentally friendly products have made companies shift focus, leading to a boost in electrical prod...

In this chapter

  • Products & Services
  • Major Markets
  • International Trade

Key metrics

  • Largest market segment and value in 2024
  • Product innovation level
  • Total imports, level and trend
  • Total exports, level and trend
  • Trade Balance

Charts

  • Products & services segmentation in 2024
  • Major market segmentation in 2024
  • International trade, including imports by country and exports by country

Detailed analysis

  • Trends impacting the recent performance of the industry's various segments
  • Innovations in the industry's product or service offering, specialization or delivery method
  • Key factors that successful businesses consider in their offerings
  • Buying segments and key trends influencing demand for industry products and services
  • Recent trends in import and export volumes, country of origin or destination, and expected future trends

Geographic Breakdown

Discover where business activity is most concentrated in an industry and the factors driving these trends to find opportunities and conduct regional benchmarking.

Analyst insights

Manufacturers are located near prominent downstream manufacturers. The Great Lakes have served as a prime location as mass car-producing companies such as Ford and General Mo...

In this chapter (1)

  • Business Locations

Charts

  • Share of revenue, establishment, wages and employment in each state
  • Share of population compared to establishments in each region in 2024

Tables

  • Number and share of establishments in each state in 2024
  • Number and share of revenue each state accounts for in 2024
  • Number and share of wages each state accounts for in 2024
  • Number and share of employees in each state in 2024

Detailed analysis

  • Geographic spread of the industry across North America, and trends associated with changes in the business landscape
  • Key success factors for businesses to use location to their advantage

Competitive Forces

Get data and insights on what's driving competition in an industry and the challenges industry operators and new entrants may face, with analysis built around Porter's Five Forces framework.

Analyst insights

Purchase costs form a basis of competition. Internal competition is based primarily on the strength and quality of dealers, brand loyalty, after-sale service, price, performa...

In this chapter (4)

  • Concentration
  • Barriers to Entry
  • Substitutes
  • Buyer & Supplier Analysis

Key metrics

  • Industry concentration level
  • Industry competition level and trend
  • Barriers to entry level and trend
  • Substitutes level and trend
  • Buyer power level and trend
  • Supplier power level and trend

Charts

  • Market share concentration among the top 4 suppliers from 2019-2024
  • Supply chain including upstream supplying industries and downstream buying industries, flow chart

Detailed analysis

  • Factors impacting the industry’s level of concentration, such as business distribution, new entrants, or merger and acquisition activity.
  • Key success factors for businesses to manage the competitive environment of the industry.
  • Challenges that potential industry entrants face such as legal, start-up costs, differentiation, labor/capital intensity and capital expenses.
  • Key success factors for potential entrants to overcome barriers to entry.
  • Competitive threats from potential substitutes for the industry’s own products and services.
  • Key success factors for how successful businesses can compete with substitutes.
  • Advantages that buyers have to keep favorable purchasing conditions.
  • Advantages that suppliers have to maintain favorable selling conditions.
  • Key success factors for how businesses can navigate buyer and supplier power.

Companies

Learn about the performance of the top companies in the industry.

Analyst insights

Competition rises in line with the needs of the construction sector. Construction companies search for contracts with manufacturers to source lower-priced machinery and lower...

In this chapter

  • Market Share Concentration
  • Companies
  • Company Spotlights

Charts

  • Industry market share by company in 2020 through 2024
  • Major companies in the industry, including market share, revenue, profit and profit margin in 2024
  • Overview of Crown Equipment Corporation's performance by revenue, market share and profit margin from 2018 through 2024
  • Overview of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc.'s performance by revenue, market share and profit margin from 2018 through 2024
  • Overview of Kion Group AG's performance by revenue, market share and profit margin from 2018 through 2024

Detailed analysis

  • Description and key data for Crown Equipment Corporation, and factors influencing its performance in the industry
  • Description and key data for Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc., and factors influencing its performance in the industry
  • Description and key data for Kion Group AG, and factors influencing its performance in the industry

External Environment

Understand the demographic, economic and regulatory factors that shape how businesses in an industry perform.   

Analyst insights

The Clean Air Act is raising costs. The US Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to reduce the emission of air pollutants from manufacturing companies.

In this chapter

  • External Drivers
  • Regulation & Policy
  • Assistance

Key metrics

  • Regulation & policy level and trend
  • Assistance level and trend

Charts

  • Regulation & Policy historical data and forecast (2014-2029) 
  • Assistance historical data and forecast (2014-2029) 

Detailed analysis

  • Demographic and macroeconomic factors influencing the industry, including Regulation & Policy and Assistance
  • Major types of regulations, regulatory bodies, industry standards or specific regulations impacting requirements for industry operators
  • Key governmental and non-governmental groups or policies that may provide some relief for industry operators.

Financial Benchmarks

View average costs for industry operators and compare financial data against an industry's financial benchmarks over time. 

Analyst insights

Wages are shrinking as a share of revenue. While more advanced equipment requires specialized workers to operate and maintain, manufacturers have reduced wage costs through a...

In this chapter

  • Cost Structure
  • Financial Ratios
  • Key Ratios

Key metrics

  • Profit margin, and how it compares to the sector-wide margin
  • Average wages, and how it compares to the sector-wide average wage
  • Largest cost component as a percentage of revenue
  • Industry average ratios for days' receivables, industry coverage and debt-to-net-worth ratio

Charts

  • Average industry operating costs as a share of revenue, including purchases, wages, depreciation, utilities, rent, other costs and profit in 2024
  • Average sector operating costs as a share of revenue, including purchases, wages, depreciation, utilities, rent, other costs and profit in 2024
  • Investment vs. share of economy

Data tables

  • Industry Multiples (2017-2022)
  • Industry Tax Structure (2017-2022)
  • Income Statement (2017-2022)
  • Balance Sheet (2017-2022)
  • Liquidity Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Coverage Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Leverage Ratios  (2017-2022)
  • Operating Ratios (2017-2022)
  • Cash Flow & Debt Service Ratios (2014-2029)
  • Revenue per Employee (2014-2029)
  • Revenue per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • Employees per Establishment (2014-2029)
  • Employees per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • Average Wage (2014-2029)
  • Wages/Revenue (2014-2029)
  • Establishments per Enterprise (2014-2029)
  • IVA/Revenue (2014-2029)
  • Imports/Demand (2014-2029)
  • Exports/Revenue (2014-2029)

Detailed analysis

  • Trends in the cost component for industry operators and their impact on industry costs and profitability 

Key Statistics

Industry Data

Data Tables

Including values and annual change:

  • Revenue (2014-2029)
  • IVA (2014-2029)
  • Establishments (2014-2029)
  • Enterprises (2014-2029)
  • Employment (2014-2029)
  • Exports (2014-2029)
  • Imports (2014-2029)
  • Wages (2014-2029)

Methodology

How are IBISWorld reports created?

IBISWorld has been a leading provider of trusted industry research for over 50 years to the most successful companies worldwide. With offices in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and China, we are proud to have local teams of analysts that conduct research, data analysis and forecasting to produce data-driven industry reports.

Our analysts start with official, verified and publicly available sources of data to build the most accurate picture of each industry. Analysts then leverage their expertise and knowledge of the local markets to synthesize trends into digestible content for IBISWorld readers. Finally, each report is reviewed by one of IBISWorld’s editors, who provide quality assurance to ensure accuracy and readability.

IBISWorld relies on human-verified data and human-written analysis to compile each standard industry report. We do not use generative AI tools to write insights, although members can choose to leverage AI-based tools within the platform to generate additional analysis formats.

What data sources do IBISWorld analysts use?

Each industry report incorporates data and research from government databases, industry-specific sources, industry contacts, and our own proprietary database of statistics and analysis to provide balanced, independent and accurate insights.

Key data sources in the US include: 

  • US Census Bureau
  • US Bureau of Labor Statistics
  • US International Trade Commission

Analysts also use industry specific sources to complement catch-all sources, although their perspective may focus on a particular organization or representative body, rather than a clear overview of all industry operations. However, when balanced against other perspectives, industry-specific sources provide insights into industry trends.

These sources include:

  • Industry and trade associations
  • Industry federations or regulators
  • Major industry players annual or quarterly filings

Finally, IBISWorld’s global data scientists maintain a proprietary database of macroeconomic and demand drivers, which our analysts use to help inform industry data and trends. They also maintain a database of statistics and analysis on thousands of industries, which has been built over our more than 50-year history and offers comprehensive insights into long-term trends.

How does IBISWorld forecast its data?

IBISWorld’s analysts and data scientists use the sources above to create forecasts for our proprietary datasets and industry statistics. Depending on the dataset, they may use regression analysis, multivariate analysis, time-series analysis or exponential smoothing techniques to project future data for the industry or driver. Additionally, analysts will leverage their local knowledge of industry operating and regulatory conditions to impart their best judgment on the forecast model.

IBISWorld prides itself on being a trusted, independent source of data, with over 50 years of experience building and maintaining rich datasets and forecasting tools. We are proud to be the keystone source of industry information for thousands of companies across the world.

Learn more about our methodology and data sourcing on the Help Center.

Frequently Asked Questions

Unlock comprehensive answers and precise data upon purchase. View purchase options.

What is the market size of the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States in 2024?

The market size of the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States is $12.9bn in 2024.

How many businesses are there in the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in 2024?

There are 302 businesses in the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States, which has declined at a CAGR of 1.6 % between 2019 and 2024.

Has the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States grown or declined over the past 5 years?

The market size of the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States has been declining at a CAGR of 0.6 % between 2019 and 2024.

What is the forecast growth of the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States over the next 5 years?

Over the next five years, the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States is expected to grow.

What are the biggest companies in the Forklift Manufacturing in the US market in United States?

The biggest companies operating in the Forklift Manufacturing market in United States are Crown Equipment Corporation, Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. and Kion Group AG

What does the Forklift Manufacturing in the US in United States include?

Manufacturing electric operator-riding work trucks and Manufacturing motorized hand-guided work trucks are part of the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry.

Which companies have the highest market share in the Forklift Manufacturing in the US in United States?

The company holding the most market share in United States is Crown Equipment Corporation.

How competitive is the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States?

The level of competition is high and steady in the Forklift Manufacturing in the US industry in United States.