Australia and you will have to dig deep into the old handwritten Manitou archives in the factory back in France, to find a trace of the very first imported machine in Australia. At this time, the Manitou MB20C rough terrain forklift, manufactured in France in the early 70’s, was leading the way of rough terrain material handling in Australia and it made the Manitou brand renown worldwide.
The Manitou machines have passed through the ages known for their performance and durability, and the proof: there are still some to be found today operating in Australia, 40 years after being imported.
The oldest Manitou found in Australia:
The oldest MB20C found in Australia was manufactured in France and purchased new by the Trotta Brother’s Building Company in 1974, it was the first forklift in Kapunda (South Australia) at that time. In the early ’80s, Trotta Bros Building Company shut down and one of the brothers, Vic Trotta, took the Manitou and started Trotta’s Hardware Store. There it was used as a yard fork and put out for hire until the store was sold to new owners in 1999. When the store was sold, the Manitou stayed on with the family and is still being used today for their material handling needs.
40 Years of distribution and service through the Manitou dealer network:
Manitou has progressively built its leadership in rough terrain handling through an important network of historical importers and distributors, all over Australia: NTP Forklifts (SA, QLD, VIC), Tutt Bryant Equipment (NSW) and Liftrite (WA).
Within 40 years Manitou has increasingly developed its presence and service network within the country. It is in 2006 that the subsidiary Manitou Australia was created in Sydney to bring more support to the growing distributor network and offer material handling solutions to new areas in Oceania. Today Manitou products are distributed and serviced by more than 40 regional dealers spread all over Australia and New Zealand, and certified by Manitou to provide an extensive range of material handling solutions.
THE Reference in Material Handling:
Today Manitou offers in Australia a unique comprehensive range of products to cover all material handling needs. It all started with the rough terrain and semi-industrial forklifts, followed by the telescopic handler: a very versatile machine that can be easily fitted with forks, bucket, bale handler, etc… and tow a trailer.
Later Manitou integrated a full range of rough terrain and industrial Access Platforms and in 2008 it integrated a line of compact equipment from a sister company: Gehl, a US brand that manufactures Skid Steer, Track Loaders and Compact Articulated Loaders. More recently, in 2013, Manitou introduced its new range of IC trucks and launched on the market a new outstanding telehandler: the MLT840 awarded Telehandler of the Year by PowerFarming for its outstanding performance, comfort and fuel efficiency among its competitors (more information on Manitou fuel efficiency versus competitive machines can be found here: http://reduce.manitou.com).
With this new machine launched in Oceania, Manitou is setting new standards in material handling and even more as the MLT840 is now also used in the V8 Supercars Championship as the Official Lifting and Recovery Vehicle.
Manitou’s forward thinking:
Forward thinking is the watchword for 2014 as Manitou keeps on investing significantly in R&D always to bring enhanced safety, comfort and performance to its customers. The Manitou Group will be releasing important breakthroughs in the material handling sector this year: one of them is announced as the biggest telehandler ever made in the world. Coincidence or not, this super-sized telehandler is told to be a 40 tons capacity machine, a nice way for Manitou to celebrate and play with the number 40 this year 2014.