Pushing versatility

摘要

Like many segments of the construction machinery industry, telescopic handlers have faced difficult times over the past few years thanks to the global financial situation, with falling sales in Europe. As with most categories of machine, telehandlers were forecast to sell fewer units in 2013 than the previous year, but it was one of the small number of segments where production in Western Europe increased in 2012 over 2011, according to figures from Off-Highway Research. Several of the major manufacturers of telehandlers are Italian - a market which is suffering as badly as anywhere - and so it is the export markets that are providing the only crumbs of comfort. At Dieci, chairman and managing director Ciro Correggi said, "In Italy, it is still dead. In Europe it is different - there is something more to do. We export to everywhere in Europe.