Marcel VandenTop Forklift Cities – USA – Where forklifts are built in America
196 120th Ave.
Holland, MI 49424
Phone: 616 796 1288
Fax: 616 796-2096
http://www.intellaparts.com
Where are forklifts made? Contrary to the prevailing notion that little is manufactured in the USA nowadays, the majority of forklifts sold in the country are, in fact, domestically produced by diverse manufacturers. While some forklift OEMs have shuttered factories in past decades, numerous others have established new manufacturing plants in places like Berea, Kentucky, New Bremen, Ohio, and other small towns throughout the industrial heartland and the south. Consequently, as of 2024, the USA hosts a flourishing forklift manufacturing sector. These manufacturing facilities are primarily situated in rural areas, with Logisnext/Mitsubishi’s site in Houston, Texas, being the notable exception.
Caterpillar / Mitsubishi / Logisnext
Mentor OH: Caterpillar operated a forklift manufacturing facility in Mentor, Ohio, from 1969 until 1985. Mentor, Ohio, is located about 25 miles northeast of Cleveland. However, in 1985, Caterpillar decided to shutter the factory as part of a larger move to outsource most of its forklift production to Daewoo in Korea.
Dallas OR Closed in 1987. Built straddle stackers here.
Houston TX: Caterpillar entered a joint venture with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 1992. At that time, Caterpillar-branded forklifts began being manufactured in Houston. It continues to this day.
Clark Equipment / Clark Material Handling
Asheville NC: Clark built large-capacity forklifts here in the 1960s and 1970s. After it was closed it moved to Danville, KY.
Battle Creek, MI: During World War II, Battle Creek became the global production hub for Clark’s forklifts; however, production ceased in 1982 when operations were relocated to Georgetown, KY, and South Korea.
Danville KY: Large capacity lift truck production. Closed during Terex’s ownership of Clark sometime between 1995 and 1996.
Georgetown, Ky: Clark commenced production in in 1974, choosing the location for its cost-effective, non-union labor force. Georgetown, Kentucky, home to around 34,000 residents, is about 15 miles north of Lexington, the state’s second-largest city. Production ceased here in 1987.
Lexington KY. Home of Clark’s USA headquarters, light manufacturing started here in 2019 and continues to this day.
Crown Equipment Corporation / Crown Lift Truck
New Bremen OH: Established in 1945, Crown’s headquarters are located in New Bremen, Ohio, a quintessential “company” town in the state’s west-central region. New Bremen has a population of around 2900 residents and is about 70 miles northwest of Dayton, OH.
Troy, New Knoxville, Minster OH: Crown operates approximately 1.5 million square feet of manufacturing facilities across Ohio, including locations in Troy, New Knoxville, and Minster.
Greencastle IN: Greencastle, Indiana, with a population of around 10,000 residents, is about 40 miles west of Indianapolis, the capital and largest city of Indiana.
New Castle IN: New Castle, Indiana, home to approximately 18,000 residents, is situated about 45 miles east of Indianapolis.
Kinston NC: Crown recently expanded this facility in 2021. Kinston, NC, is approximately 80 miles southeast of Raleigh.
Hyster-Yale Group
Berea, KY: Operations started in 1973 at this facility. HYG produces class I, IV and V forklifts here as of 2024.
Crawfordsville IN: Closed May 1986. Not entirely clear what they built here.
Danville, IL: Hyster Company opened this facility in 1946. At that time, it was the only factory 100% dedicated to building forklifts. It closed in 2001, a nearby parts distribution center remains open.
Greenville, NC: Yale opened this factory in 1974. As of 2024, HYG builds class II and III forklifts here.
Sulligent, AL: Hyster built transmissions at this Alabama site. Today it continues to house transmission manufacturing for Hyster and Yale forklifts as well as HYG’s Bolzoni operations.
Portland OR: Portland was where it all began for the Hyster company back in 1929. Production of forklifts ended here in January 1984.
Houston TX: Jungheinrich equipment has been manufactured in Houston TX since 2017. Where the company has a joint venture with MItsubishi Logisnext.
San Antonio TX: Kalmar started building a rough terrain version of its popular reach stacker here from 1996 until it sold the operation to investors in 2018. The factory continues to this day under the name IRTC.
Ottawa KS: Kalmar started building large capacity (36,000 pound capacity and higher) at a facility in Ottawa KS. The factory is mainly a production plant for Ottawa switcher trucks.
Komatsu Forklift
Newberry SC: Komatsu builds forklifts in South Carolina, plant was opened in 2001. Newberry, South Carolina, lies approximately 40 miles northwest of Columbia.
Linde / KION Material Handling
Summerville SC: Linde entered the USA market when it purchased the remnants of the old Baker Forklift company in 1977. Linde started building forklifts in 1985 in Summerville, South Carolina. Summerville is a suburb of Charleston SC.
Marengo IL: During the late 1980s, the company acquired Barrett Industrial Trucks, headquartered in Marengo, Illinois. Nissan merged Barrett with Nissan and began production of the rest of Nissan product line in Marengo. Marengo has a population of about 7,500 residents and is about 60 miles northwest of Chicago.
Raymond Corporation / Raymond Lift Truck
Greene NY: Raymond has deep roots in upstate New York. Its production continues to this day in Greene NY which is located south of Syracuse NY.
Muscatine, IA: Muscatine, Iowa, was originally the corporate headquarters for Prime Mover, a forklift manufacturer established in 1950, which was later acquired by BT Industries in 1997. Today, the plant operates under the name Raymond and remains in operation. Muscatine, Iowa, is situated approximately 30 miles southwest of Davenport.
Taylor Machine Works
Louisville MS: Taylor builds its units in Louisville MS. The company started in 1927 and continues to this day. Louisville, Mississippi, is situated roughly 90 miles northeast of Jackson, the capital and largest city of Mississippi.
West Columbia SC: TCM operated a factory here from 1989 until its closure in 2010. It mostly built heart of the line forklifts under 12,000 pound capacity.
Toyota Forklift/Toyota Material Handling
Columbus IN: Toyota started producing forklifts in Indiana in 1990. As of 2024 the company boasts that it has built over 750,000 at this facility.
Irvine CA: Toyota set up a sales operations office and USA headquarters in at this city in Southern California in 1967. This facility was closed in 2012 when operations were consolidated at the manufacturing site in Columbus, IN.
Yale Materials Handling
Philadelphia PA: Yale began building forklifts in 1948 at a plant on Roosevelt Boulevard Philadelphia. In 1984 headquarters were moved to nearby Flemington NJ and component assembly moved to Greenville NC.
Flemington NJ: Yale maintained offices here after closing the Philadelphia plant in 1984. This offices/headquarters building closed 1998 after operations were moved to Greenville, NC.
Lenoir, NC: Yale built electric motors and other forklift components here. This site was opened in 1984 and closed in 2002.
Summary:
States with forklift manufacturing sites as of 2024:
Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Mississippi, South Carolina, Texas.
States that used to have forklift (ITA class 1 through 5) manufacturing sites but no longer:
Michigan, Oregon, Pennsylvania.
No forklifts are manufactured in the western United States.
About the Author:
Marcel VandenTop has been in the forklift parts business since 1987. Since 1987, He worked at three different companies.Marcel started at an aftermarket forklift parts company called Rapidparts. I worked there during high school and college, first in the warehouse, then in purchasing, finally once I graduated college in outside sales. He was tired of traveling so he took a job as general parts manager at Alta Equipment, a large Hyster and Yale forklift dealer based in Michigan. Marcel started Intella in 2007 and decided to focus 100% on web sales in the last few years. He is 100% owner and president of Intella Parts Company.
