19.01.2012

Manitou and Toyota to split

Toyota Material Handling Europe, the fork and pallet truck producer, and Manitou have announced that they will not renew their long-standing exclusive distribution agreement for France when the current contract expires in a year’s time.

Both groups believe that the current business model can no longer be adapted to future market developments and wish to enforce a clearer brand strategy that will be consistent across Europe.

At the same time, Toyota and Manitou intend to pursue their on-going cooperation, while exploring new opportunities and preserving business continuity for their common dealers and end-customers on the French market.
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Toyota Industrial Material Handling products

Hakan Dahllöf, president of Toyota Material Handling said: “We are very appreciative of what Manitou has built for the Toyota brand in France, but we now need to deploy our pan-European model for branding and distribution with one integrated organisation in charge for both Toyota and BT brands. I am convinced it will represent a great business platform for the French dealers who will naturally fit in. Even if our business arrangement with Manitou changes, we still very much value the relationship moving forward and will continue to explore opportunities together.”

Manitou chief executive Jean-Christophe Giroux added: “Toyota has helped us grow a unique expertise in Industrial Material Handling, and recognise the value of that segment alongside Agriculture and Construction. We now wish to expand this model across other geographies, leveraging a single product range under our own Manitou brand, to be launched abroad early February 2012 and progressively in 2013 in France. We believe our differentiated positioning from Toyota will not compromise our ability to remain a true partner to Toyota, which we will continue to support in many capacities.”

Both parties have said that business will continue as usual throughout 2012.

Vertikal Comment

This is an interesting, if not surprising, move on the part of Manitou and Toyota, the two companies have been edging apart for some time now. In July 2010 Toyota purchased the 20 percent holding that Manitou had in Toyota Industrial Equipment, their manufacturing Joint Venture in Ancenis, France.

A condition of that deal was that Manitou would continue to manufacture masts for Toyota and that the change would have no effect on this exclusive distribution agreement.

In real terms the ending of the agreement is not likely to make a great deal of difference to either party. It might though free Manitou up to expand its own product offerings in the industrial sector?

Its contacts with the Toyota industrial distribution chain will remain of course and yet it will now be able to focus solely on how a dealer performs with Manitou products, with no concern over what it does with Toyota fork trucks. (If a dealer is selling huge volumes of Toyota fork lifts, but only a few Manitou products, it is hard to be as tough as you may want to be)

On balance…..and without the benefit of an insider’s view… Manitou could benefit more from this change than Toyota, although all-in-all it is likely to suit both.