Interview: KION expects its China success to go global, says CEO

FRANKFURT, March 6 (Xinhua) -- German forklift truckmaker KION Group expects its success in China over the past three decades will help expand its business worldwide, the group's CEO said.

In a recent interview with Xinhua, KION Group's CEO Rob Smith described China as a huge market that still keeps growing.

KION Group made its debut in China's material handling market in 1993, when Linde Material Handling, part of the Group, became the first international business in this sector to invest in China, Smith said.

The company, aiming to be close to its customers and their needs, has witnessed the growing inclusiveness of the Chinese market as well as China's high-quality development and green transformation, he said.

Today, its plants in China produce forklift trucks and provide warehouse technologies under the brands of Linde MH, Baoli and Dematic.

"Our successful development in China would not have been possible without its friendly and stable investment environment," Smith said.

Amid growing demand over the past three decades, the company has kept expanding production at its six plants in China, rolling out industrial trucks and other products and exporting them to European and South American markets as well, Smith said. "This will be a growing market share element of our business, not just in China, but also in Europe and America."

Four of the six plants produce industrial trucks and the other two provide supply chain solutions, a sign that KION has full confidence in the Chinese market and in the successful implementation of the company's growth strategy in China, the company said in a statement.

Last month, KION Group unveiled strong financial results for 2023, with its adjusted earnings before interest and taxes increasing from 292.4 million euros (318.19 million U.S. dollars) in 2022 to 790.5 million euros.

Determined to continue ramping up production, the company said it also intends to keep on capitalizing on growth opportunities and the electrification of industrial trucks in China. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollar)