Toyota to Acquire Major Share in Italy’s SIMAI

Toyota Material Handling Europe will acquire a major share of Italian material handling leader SIMAI in November 2016. “SIMAI´s innovative approach and expertise in designing and manufacturing tow tractor solutions meet Toyota´s strategy to offer a complete range of material handling solutions for indoor and outdoor operations,” said the company.

Toyota Material Handling will initially acquire 66% of SIMAI´s share with a plan to go up to 100% within a short period. This new cooperation aims to enhance Toyota’s product portfolio and meet customer requirements in the material handling industry, specifically with tow tractors for indoor and outdoor applications. Toyota Material Handling has been offering a competitive towing tractor range, however, with a European focus on indoor operations. As a specialist in the airport industry, SIMAI´s product portfolio mainly contains outdoor solutions, so is slated to fit a gap in the Toyota Material Handling product portfolio.

SIMAI produces a wide range of electric tow tractors and platform trucks, with a towing capacity up to 30 tonnes. With over 60 years of experience, SIMAI continues to develop products to meet specific customer requirements with a flexible and customer-oriented mindset, as well as enthusiasm towards technology. This resulted in the production of many specialised tow tractor solutions, platform trucks and load carriers for several industrial applications.

“SIMAI´s dedicated and professional team has excellent manufacturing skills applying a modern technology. We are familiar with them, and our Italian sales organisation acknowledges their dedication and expertise in the area of our business interest,” says Sam Coles, Senior Vice President Marketing and Sales, Toyota Material Handling Europe.