This report analyses the German market for telescopic handlers and masted rough terrain lift trucks (RTLTs). It examines the supply of domestic manufacturers and importers, assesses the trends in the market and the factors affecting its development, and forecasts the main features of the market in the short to medium term.

The report covers the agricultural, industrial and construction sectors of the market. The rough terrain lift truck is one of the few products that are active in all three sectors, which is one of the prime reasons it became one of the fastest growing of all products in Europe during the 1990s.

The rough terrain lift truck is the generic term given to machines that were developed by Matbro in the 1940s, which in the 1960s evolved into the agricultural tractor skid unit, with two large drive-wheels to the front and reversed operator and transmission with a vertical forklift mast attached to the front. This machine, which is known in German as a Geländestapler, will be referred to as the masted rough terrain lift truck throughout this report.

During the 1970s a new materials handling machine was developed based upon the original rough terrain lift truck, but with a telescopic boom replacing the vertical mast and sold with a variety of attachments. This machine - commonly known as a telescopic handler or telehandler - resulted in moving the market from a purely rough terrain forklift application to a rough terrain materials handling operation.

In contrast to markets such as France and the UK, the telescopic handler concept initially struggled to find widespread acceptance in Germany, although the reunification of the two halves of Germany in 1990 stimulated a significant increase in sales, largely sustained by demand from the large East German agricultural cooperatives, or Agrargenossenschaften.

The findings presented in this report are based on Off-Highway Research’s existing database and on the information collected during an extensive field interview programme, undertaken in July 2023 with all domestic manufacturers and major importers.