Home / Blogs / Forklift Market | Toyota’s $33B Privatization & Future Outlook

Forklift Market | Toyota’s $33B Privatization & Future Outlook

By Debashish | September 24, 2025

Cover image illustrating the forklift market and Toyota’s $33 billion privatization deal, highlighting global logistics and automation trends

Forklift Market | Toyota’s $33 Billion Privatization Deal and the Next Decade of Material Handling



The forklift market rarely gets front-page attention. Electric cars, space startups or humanoid robots become headlines. However, forklifts, which ferry pallets in warehouses, stack containers at ports, and keep the supply chains alive, are quietly forming the global economy.



This forklift market stood at USD 62.6 billion in a year 2024. It is expected to grow to USD 120.1 billion by 2035, a two-time increase in a matter of ten years. Numbers do not tell everything. One company announcement has shocked the industry like little had been heard until it: in mid-2025, Toyota Motor announced a ¥4.7 trillion (~USD 33 billion) proposal to privatize Toyota Industries.



This is not just a financial shuffle inside Japan’s largest corporate group. Toyota Industries happens to be the world’s biggest forklift maker, home to Toyota Material Handling and Raymond in North America. With one stroke, Toyota has signaled that forklifts — often invisible in the bigger industrial narrative — are strategic assets worth tens of billions.



Breaking Down Toyota’s $33 Billion Take-Private



The deal is heavy on detail, but a few numbers stand out.





The new holding company will absorb Toyota Industries, bringing the entire forklift business under tighter Toyota family control.



Interestingly, only weeks before the announcement, reports suggested a larger ¥6 trillion (~USD 42B) proposal was on the table. That earlier number raised expectations, which is why many investors were left unimpressed when the final figure landed at ¥4.7T.



Forklift Market Shock and Investor Backlash



The immediate fallout was sharp. Shares in Toyota Industries fell 12–13% in the first trading session after the news, dropping below the tender price itself. That’s rare in M&A: usually, investors bid stock up to — or above — the offer price.



Global funds weren’t quiet either. Zennor Asset Management in London and Oasis Management in Hong Kong criticized the offer as undervaluing Toyota Industries’ assets, especially its property portfolio and its dominant forklift market.



Analysts chimed in too. Reuters Breakingviews called the deal “messy,” while the Financial Times flagged governance concerns. The structure, which gives Toyota Motor non-voting shares and hands voting power to Toyota Fudosan, looked to many like a consolidation of power within the Toyoda family.



For minority shareholders, transparency risk went up just as valuation went down — raising fresh questions about how this move could reshape confidence in the forklift market overall.



Toyota’s Logic



From Toyota’s perspective, the rationale is straightforward.





Toyota is essentially betting that forklifts are the next frontier in supply chain technology. And it wants the freedom to lead without outside shareholders second-guessing.



Why This Matters for the Forklift Market



Forklifts as Strategic Infrastructure



Toyota Industries’ Materials Handling division isn’t a side business. It’s the company’s cash cow, and it commands global leadership. By taking it private, Toyota gains more control over how quickly it pushes into electric forklifts, autonomous fleets, and integrated warehouse systems.



Ripples Across Competitors



Rival firms such as KION, Jungheinrich, and Hyster-Yale will be under pressure. Toyota can now develop R&D more swiftly, acquire companies without being noticed, and try automation where its rivals might be reluctant to.



Supply Chains and Dealers



Supply chains may change with Toyota bringing procurement within the Group. Dealers and service networks may consolidate further — a trend already visible when Toyota integrated Raymond into Toyota Material Handling North America earlier in 2025.



The Broader Forklift Market | 2025–2035



While the Toyota deal is the headline, the backdrop is just as compelling.





Electrification: Now Mainstream



By 2024, 70% of forklifts sold were electric. Stricter environmental rules — from California’s Zero-Emission Forklift mandate (phasing out ICE forklifts by 2029) to Europe’s emissions standards — are accelerating this shift. Lithium-ion and hydrogen fuel cells are moving from niche to necessity.



Who’s Buying?





Regional Story



The leader is Asia Pacific with 52.2% of the market (USD 32.7B in 2024).



China is taking advantage of its huge logistics network and Made in China 2025 policy.



Japan is driving AI-driven forklifts to compensate the shortage of labor.



India is creating demand with its Gati Shakti plan and PLI schemes, driving industrial corridors and SEZs.



The Challenges Ahead in the Forklift Market



Not everything is smooth.



Expensive initial expenses: SMEs have to overcome high initial expenses which stand at USD 25,000 and above in purchasing a decent electric forklift.



Owning costs, energy, training, insurance accumulate.



Regulatory drag: Regulatory costs have a real cost aspect in that they may drive the market towards being sustainable.



Opportunities That Can’t Be Ignored



By 2030, autonomous forklifts will be a common occurrence in the advanced warehouses.



The Internet of Things and telematics will transform forklifts into sources of information, which will supply insights on energy consumption, predictive maintenance, and efficiency of the fleet.



The zero-emission models will gain demand due to the sustainability requirements, and the lithium-ion and hydrogen will be on the forefront.



The emerging Forklift Market particularly the Southeast Asian region and Africa are also going to be introducing new layers of demand due to the infrastructure development.



Forklifts: The Unseen Workhorse



Most people when they think of global trade will think of ships, planes or containers. However, nothing moves without forklifts. They are the underdogs of supply chains the behind-the-scenes infrastructure of the contemporary trade.



The ¥4.7 trillion take-private of Toyota throws a light on the extent to which they have become strategic. This is not a family takeover, but this is a place to place forklifts in the center of the automation, electrification, and logistics revolution.



To the manufacturers, policymakers and the investors, the message is simple, the forklift market is not a back story anymore. It will represent a USD 120 billion stage by 2035 upon which the future of supply chains will be enacted. And Toyota has just purchased itself a front seat.



Making Sense of the Forklift Market with MarketGenics


The forklift market may appear like a niche corner of industrial machinery — USD 62.6B in 2024, heading toward USD 120.1B by 2035 — but the signals around Toyota’s ¥4.7T privatization, the electrification of fleets, and the acceleration of intralogistics automation show it is becoming a strategic arena for capital, technology, and policy.



At MarketGenics, we cut through announcements and quarterly noise to surface where the real shifts are happening: how mega-deals like Toyota’s are redrawing ownership structures, where electrification and IoT integration are scaling fastest, and how Asia Pacific is positioning itself as the demand powerhouse of the next decade.



If your organization is navigating supply chain transformation, assessing automation investments, or seeking clarity on regional growth plays, our intelligence helps you see what’s next in the forklift market before it becomes obvious.



Follow MarketGenics here on LinkedIn for continuous analysis — insights designed to help you act early, not react late.


← Back to Blogs