Toyota is new Aichi US distributor

Using its extensive dealer network, Toyota is now the official US distributor of Aichi SV-Series scissor lifts, SP wheeled booms and IRS-Series crawler booms. The company plans to release new models in 2009.

Toyota Material Handling USA (TMHU) announced it is now the sole distributor of Aichi scissor lifts and wheeled and crawler boom lifts in the US.

Dr. Shankar Basu, president and CEO of TMHU, told Access International in April 2008 that Aichi would benefit from Toyota's extensive network in North America.

"Our customers expect the highest level of quality, durability and reliability," Basu, said in a statement. "And these Aichi products deliver just that - as well as the best warranty in the industry. We are thrilled to be offering another line of Toyota quality products to our customers."

According to Toyota Aichi, dealers will offer two models of SV-Series scissor lifts ranging from approximately 20- to 26-feet high, two models of SP wheeled boom lift models and four models of ISR-Series crawler boom lifts.

"We are offering two models of SV-Series scissor lifts ranging from approximately 20- to 26-feet high, two models of SP wheeled boom lift models and four models of ISR-Series crawler boom lifts," says Melinda Beckett-Maines, of TMHU. "All of these products are manufactured in Japan. We also will be introducing additional models in early 2009."

The scissor lifts, Beckett-Maines said, will feature a brushless AC drive system and inverter design for longer duty cycles and faster traveling speeds. The wheeled boom lifts will also be designed with a three-stage boom structure that results in a compact stowed position.

All the products are now offered through Toyota Aichi dealers including:

• Atlantic Coast Toyotalift
• Atlas First Access, Inc
• Brodie Toyota-Lift
• Florida Lift Systems, Inc.
• Forklifts of St. Louis, Inc.
• Hull Toyota Lift
• ProLift Industrial Equipment Co., LLC
• Southeast Industrial Equipment, Inc.
• Toyota Forklifts of Atlanta
• Toyota Material Handling Northern Calif.
• Toyota-Lift of Los Angeles, Inc.
• Toyota Lift of South Texas
• Shoppa's Material Handling, Ltd.
• Summit Handling Systems, Inc.
• SwiftLift Inc.

Beckett-Maines said the products will be for the U.S. market specifically, and that Aichi is currently studying the possibility of establishing operations to support US manufacturing in the future.

For more on this story, please see the Sept./Oct. 2008 issue of American Lift & Handlers.