GULF Automobile Industry Corp (GAIC), which became the Gulf’s first manufacturer of forklifts when it launched its Camel brand early this year, reports that interest in its new forklift was high at the Big 5 PMV in Dubai, UAE, last month.

The company received orders from Morocco, Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Sudan and it expects to sell between 50 and 75 forklifts as a result of its participation at the show, a company spokesman says.

In line with a 10-year regional expansion plan, the company will move its manufacturing unit to a 3-million-sq-m facility in Saudi Arabia.

Dr Nasser Hamad Al Hajeri, chairman of GAIC, which is presently operating from its 14,000-sq-m factory in Abu Dhabi, says the expansion will take place throughout next year over two phases and will start with a 109,000-sq-m factory in the kingdom.

“We are forecasting sales of Dh50 million ($13.6 million) for 2010 and shifting to a larger manufacturing plant was necessary to meet the demand for our products,” he says. “While it makes sense to be in Saudi Arabia, our biggest market, the UAE continues to offer us strong sales potential. We will employ a further 800 members of staff to operate from the new factory and by 2020 we hope to employ 11,000.”

The Camel forklift was launched at the beginning of this year, when most of the world was suffering amidst the financial downturn. Al Hajeri believes this was an opportune moment to introduce the forklift because of its competitive price and regionally-appropriate specifications.

“The Camel forklift is around 30 per cent cheaper than its competitors but is still of excellent quality. Despite the economic downturn, we have benefited from strong sales since our launch and the product has been well received by the industry,” he says.

“We source engines from Nissan and Isuzu in Japan, but we have modified the traditional forklift model to cope well with the Middle East conditions. Each forklift is installed with a filtration system to deal with dust and sand and a cooling mechanism to help with high temperatures in this region. Air-conditioning units can also be added if necessary – a feature no other forklift manufacturer offers,” Al Hajeri adds.