Linde

Headquartered in Aschaffenburg, Germany, Linde Material Handling is one of the world’s leading lift truck and warehouse truck manufacturers. The company produces hydrostatic drivers used not only in Linde forklifts but also in construction, forestry and farming machinery.

Company history – Story of Linde began with a establishment of Guldner-Motoren-GmbH on February 15, 1904 by Dr. Guldner Von Linde and Dr. Georg von Krauss. In 1929 company has been taken over by Linde Ag and the head office was moved to Aschaffenburg, Germany. In 1938 Guldner added agricultural tractors to its line of products. The year 1955 Linde began production of the Hydro car, the first hydrostatically driven car in Aschaffenburg. In 1977 Linde has acquired Baker Material Handling Corp., that was based in Cleveland, USA. Seven years later in 1984, Linde also purchased Fenwick Manutention S.A., the largest manufacturer of forklifts in France. Five years have passed since the takeover, and Linde yet again has acquired the British forklift manufacturer Lansing Bagnall. These acquisitions helped Linde grow considerably within the material handling industry. In 2006 Linde Material Handling gained legal independence as part of KION group. A company that provides warehouse equipment, lift trucks and industrial trucks, KION is the leader in European material handling industry. In 2007 the company record was broken as they produced 500.00th forklift was produced.

Company today - Today Linde has manufacturing facilities in France, Germany, the U.K., and China. Products that are designed for the American market are manufactured and Linde Lift Truck Corp. in Summerville, South Carolina. As of December 31, 2007, Linde had 13.039 employees and posted net sales of $2.7 billion.