Used Market Ranking 2024: The Most Popular Forklift Brands
Nothing works without them: Forklifts and warehouse equipment are essential for the flow of goods in any company. However, new devices are expensive, and not every company wants or can currently invest in them. A look at the used market shows that the number of high-performance and reliable used forklifts has recently increased significantly following the supply shortages of recent years. Therefore, buyers of used forklifts are finding more attractive and increasingly affordable offers.
One’s gain, another’s loss: For sellers, it is all the more important to be aware of which brands are currently selling particularly well and which brands have demand that even exceeds supply.
In our used market ranking, we take a detailed look at the most popular forklift brands in Europe in 2024.
Table of Contents
These are the most popular manufacturers in 2024 (see table).
| Place | Brand | Market share | Demand barometer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |
Linde | 25,75% | 0,87 |
| 2 |  |
Toyota | 9,27% | 1,33 |
| 3 |  |
Still | 9,10% | 0,62 |
| 4 |  |
Jungheinrich | 8,04% | 0,82 |
| 5 |  |
Manitou | 5,92% | 2,84 |
| 6 |  |
Hyster | 4,57% | 1,26 |
| 7 |  |
Kalmar | 3,05% | 2,28 |
| 8 |  |
Combilift | 2,82% | 2,89 |
| 9 |  |
Mitsubishi | 2,34% | 1,20 |
| 10 |  |
BT | 2,26% | 0,79 |
| 11 |  |
Yale | 1,94% | 0,64 |
| 12 |  |
Merlo | 1,56% | 5,50 |
| 13 |  |
Doosan | 1,53% | 0,90 |
| 14 |  |
CAT Lift Trucks | 1,30% | 1,65 |
| 15 |  |
HC (Hangcha) | 0,89% | 0,59 |
| 16 |  |
TCM | 0,88% | 2,58 |
| 17 |  |
JCB | 0,77% | 2,19 |
| 18 |  |
Nissan | 0,76% | 1,1 |
| 19 |  |
Cesab | 0,75% | 0,50 |
| 20 |  |
Unicarriers | 0,75% | 0,87 |
These brands are the most purchased:
The European forklift equipment market in 2024 will be characterised by a mix of established market leaders and innovative niche suppliers.
As expected, Linde dominates the European field. However, there is a small surprise in second place with Toyota. While the Japanese manufacturer is the international leader in the new equipment market, it has so far mostly been behind Linde, Still and Jungheinrich in the European used equipment market.
The top 3 manufacturers at a glance:
Platz 1:
Linde Material Handling
With an impressive market share of 25,75%, Linde’s used industrial equipment is sold almost as often as the 2nd, 3rd and 4th largest manufacturers combined. Linde Material Handling equipment are particularly popular on the used market because they are known for their high reliability, durability, and excellent service coverage.
Platz 2:
Toyota Material Handling
Toyota Material Handling overtook Still and Jungheinrich to take second place with a share of 9,27%.
The Japanese manufacturer secured second place thanks to a wide and high-quality product range, a good service network, and what is perceived by many to be a good price/performance balance.
Platz 3:
STILL
With a share of 9,10%, STILL trucks are the third most sold brand in the European used truck market. STILL equipment is particularly popular due to its advanced technology, ergonomic design, and high energy efficiency, making it a reliable and cost-effective choice for many companies.
The hottest brands 2024:
If you want to sell a forklift truck, it is not only the number of trucks sold that is of interest but also the number of trucks offered by competitors. Below, we have analysed which of the top 20 brands have particularly high demand combined with low supply. The result is the “hottest” forklift brands of 2024!
The graph shows the popularity of certain brands in relation to the available used stock. A resulting “demand barometer” of 1 means that a forklift is offered as often as it is demanded. Any equipment with a coefficient greater than 1 is therefore in relatively high demand and considered “hot”.
Let’s take a closer look at Linde Material Handling:
- Linde brand forklift trucks account for 25,75% of all requests. However, 29,58% of all forklift truck listings are Linde equipment. Put in proportion, this results in a coefficient of
25,75%29,58% = 0,87
In the example of Sieger Merlo, this results in a coefficient of 5.50. This is because the equipment has an enquiry share of 1.56%, while it only accounts for 0.28% of all listings.
The top 3 hidden champions at a glance:
Platz 1:
Merlo
“Merlo telehandlers: by professionals for professionals”—this is how the manufacturer describes itself on its website. This tagline provides direct insight into why the telehandler specialist’s machines are so popular: customer-centered solutions coupled with a fast service network catapult Merlo to first place among the hidden champions!
Platz 2:
Combilift
The specialist for multidirectional forklift trucks delivers outstanding solutions, particularly in the area of long goods handling. It’s no wonder that Combilift’s equipment resonates with many customers, securing second place.
Platz 3:
Manitou
Thanks to its high-quality product range, the French manufacturer, which is particularly well-known for its rough-terrain and telescopic forklift trucks, not only achieved a phenomenal 5th place in the overall ranking but also 3rd place among the hottest brands of 2024! Chapeau!
¹ Statista: Largest manufacturers of industrial trucks worldwide by market share in the 2020/2021 financial year.
All other statistics mentioned are actual sales data from the largest forklift marketplace in Europe: Forklift-International.com
