KION North America Corporation hosted a meeting for its dealer network from Oct. 28-30 in Charleston, SC. More than 140 attendees representing 90 percent of the company’s dealer network were in attendance at the first large-scale meeting since the company changed its name from Linde Material Handling North America at the start of this year.
Over the course of two and a half days, KION North America shared their long-term strategy, showcased the most new products at one time in the company’s history and unveiled new sales and marketing tools. Among the new products was the Linde brand’s new Series 1411 heavy truck. Equipped with a torque converter, this Class V diesel-powered forklift has a load capacity of up to 40,000 pounds and is perfectly suited for heavy manufacturing, lumber, ports and terminals, precast and concrete, steel/aluminum and oil/gas applications. Additionally, KION North America launched Baoli, a forklift brand entirely new to the North American marketplace. KION Baoli Forklift Co., Ltd is the international, highly competitive material handling manufacturer for the economy segment. The first model to be introduced is the Class V Baoli D+ Series Model KBG25, which is now available for purchase. This model features a load capacity of 5,500 pounds and a Nissan IMPCO K25 LPG engine. Additional Baoli models are currently being developed specifically for the North American market and will be released over the next several years. Designed to meet the needs of the economy segment of the U.S. market, these budget forklifts are manufactured in a state-of-the-art facility in Jiangsu province, the largest economic region in China. The forklift manufacturing process is completed with extensive quality assurance testing of all functions to ensure the highest level of reliability is met according to U.S. standards prior to each new forklift truck being delivered. KION NA is distributing and supporting the Baoli range to complement the extensive world-renowned Linde range of warehouse, electric counterbalance and internal combustion products. These new forklifts are for sale through our nationwide distribution network. By combining the competitive advantages of KION’s operational excellence and German engineering with Baoli’s integrated manufacturing platform, we are able to offer reliable and practical products. The company already has a dedicated team in place specifically to manage the Baoli brand that will be responsible for sales, product management, marketing and product support. By providing all product support, as well as standardized services tailored specifically to the North American market from our headquarters in Summerville, South Carolina, ensure excellent aftersales handling for our customers.
