KION Group, a well-known German forklift manufacturing and supply chain solution provider, announced on the 3rd that it will establish a new company with Weichai Power in China and build a new plant in Jinan to further tap the potential of the Chinese market.
According to reports, KION Group holds 95% of the new company's shares, and Weichai Power holds 5%. The new company will further tap the growth potential of the mid-range market and benefit from the growing electrification trend in the Chinese industrial vehicle market.
The total investment in the construction of the new plant in Jinan is about 100 million euros. The new plant is expected to start at the end of 2020 and be put into production in 2022. It mainly produces counterbalanced forklifts. In addition to production facilities, the company will also build a KION mid-range product technology center at the plant. By 2025, the new plant is expected to create more than 800 jobs in Shandong Province.
KION Group CEO Gordon Riske said at a press conference that China is the fastest growing and most important market for KION Group. "In our growth strategy, continuing to expand our Chinese business is at the core."
KION's financial report released on the same day showed that the Group's sales in fiscal 2019 were 8.81 billion euros, an increase of 10.1% year-on-year. The KION Group owns many forklift truck brands such as Linde and Breguet. It is the largest industrial vehicle manufacturer in Europe and the second largest in the world, and a leading supplier of automation technology. In 2012, China Weichai Power entered a stake in KION Group, and since then it has increased its holdings of KION Group several times. The current shareholding ratio is 45%.