Crown Equipment announced that it has established its own direct sales and service operation in Milan, Italy. This follows the highly successful opening of Crown’s sales and service operations in Spain (2011) and Austria (2012). Crown Lift Trucks, which is Crown Equipment’s retail operation, will take over the business activities of its current distributor, AMIS. Current AMIS employees will become Crown employees. “The Crown name is well established in Italy,” said Piero Lombardi, formerly of AMIS and now general manager of Crown Lift Trucks in Italy. “This integration into Crown’s global network, combined with our knowledge of the Italian market, will allow us to respond even better to the needs of our customers.” Many of the Crown products offered in Italy are built at Crown’s manufacturing facility in Germany, and Crown’s new Italian service organization will be supported by overnight parts deliveries from Crown’s European Parts Center in Munich. This has proven to be a successful method of serving Crown customers in other European countries. “With a direct presence in Italy, combined with a wide range of material handling solutions, the new Crown Lift Trucks sales and service facilities will strengthen our position with valued local customers throughout Italy,” said Richard de Graaf, director dealer operations EMEA, Crown Equipment. “This facility offers a large fleet of rental forklifts and a full range of long-term rental and maintenance options. In addition, it is fully equipped to respond to all of Crown’s international customers with operations in Italy.”