We have written about this many times, the rise of the Chinese made forklift in the Australian Materials Handling Market. It is no longer just Chinese manufacturers like HangCha or Sany that are pushing their way into the forklift market. Mainstream forklift manufacturers like Jungheinrich, Linde and Hyster are going to China for their forklift products. With both brands owned by the Kion group, Linde Materials Handling import the Baoli forklift into the Australian market.
Linde have taken it a step further than most other forklift producers. Actually owning their own manufacturing facility in China, and importing the Baoli range of forklifts to cater for the low utilization and low cost niche forklift market.
Starting at 1 800 kgs through to 10 000 kgs Internal combustion forklifts with different mast heights and attachments available. Baoli have also developed a decent battery electric range of forklifts as well. The Baoli range of forklifts are imported and distributed through the Linde Australian branch network.
The smaller range of forklifts will come with an Isuzu C240 Diesel engine or the standard K21 or K25 LPG Nissan engine. The 4Ton – 5Ton forklifts come with Yanmar diesels engines the 7Ton range come with Mitsubishi S6S diesel engine and the 8T – 10T come with Isuzu diesel engines.
The Baoli Forklift Standard
The standard of the Baoli forklift manufacture is very typical of Chinese manufacturing. These forklifts are a standard torque converter forklift and are worlds apart from the Linde Hydrostatic transmission forklift. The support and backup you can expect is again very typical of Linde in Australia.
How Long Have Baoli Forklift been Around ?
Baoli have been manufacturing their range of forklifts since 2003, and have been part of the Kion group since 2009. So in length of time in the Australian market place, its not very long.
Chinese brands like the EP range of forklifts have been imported and supported for much longer in the Australian Materials Handling Market.
How do they Stack up Price wise ?
To be honest, whilst Chinese manufactured forklifts have a place in the market. They squarely fill the more budget conscious end of the market. The Baoli Forklifts are in the upper end of the price range when comparing other Chinese imported forklifts. This has more to do with the Linde business model then the actual forklift itself.
The Wash up
There is clearly a market requirement for Chinese Forklifts in Australia. As they now make up more then 25% of Australia’s annual forklift sales market. The Baoli forklift range certainly fits into that category.
Just make sure you compare what you are buying with other forklifts. A EP CPQD25N has a Nissan K21 Engine and a Baoli CPQD25 also has a Nissan K21 Engine. The prices you might pay will be vastly different. As well as the ongoing support can be very different from dealer to dealer.
