After five years of rapid growth, the global aerial work platform industry shows signs of slowing down. The latest AccessM20 report data shows that the top 20 manufacturers of aerial work platforms in the world saw a revenue growth of less than 2% last year, reaching only $14.9 billion. AccessM20 is listed as one of the "Top 20 Global High Altitude Platform Manufacturing Enterprises" by Access International, a world-renowned high-altitude platform magazine under KHL Group.
According to statistics, the revenue growth of the world's top 20 manufacturers of high-altitude work platforms in 2024 is less than 2%, a significant decline from the previous year's 21.6%. The cumulative effect of macroeconomic challenges has suppressed the momentum of this once rapidly growing market.
The sluggish industrial activity in Europe and China, coupled with the cooling of the North American leasing market, resulted in a total revenue of only $14.9 billion for the world's 15 largest high-altitude work platform manufacturers in 2024, slightly increasing from the previous year's $14.6 billion.
This slowdown occurred against the background of rapid growth for five consecutive years after the COVID-19- the total turnover of the top 15 aerial platform manufacturers in the world was only 7.15 billion dollars in 2020.
The two leading companies in this field - JLG and Genie from the United States - have maintained their leading positions, but their growth rates have significantly declined compared to previous years.
Jierjie achieved only 1.5% revenue growth in 2024, in sharp contrast to the previous year's 25% increase. Gini's development trajectory is similar, with a year-on-year growth rate plummeting from 18% to 2.5%. This slowing trend is common among other self-propelled equipment manufacturers.
Chinese manufacturers who have been actively expanding their global business in recent years have not been spared from this downturn. The weakness of the domestic construction industry, coupled with fierce local competition and geopolitical trade frictions, has jointly dragged down performance.
Revenue of major enterprises in 2023 and 2024
XCMG Group, the largest manufacturer of high-altitude work platforms in China, saw a year-on-year decrease of 7.5% in revenue to 1.39 billion US dollars in 2024; Lingong Heavy Machinery fell 4.6% to $710 million.
However, the performance of Chinese companies did not decline across the board. Some companies have temporarily offset the impact of the upcoming implementation of the EU's new tariff policy by exporting products to the European market in advance - these tariffs are part of the anti-dumping investigation into Chinese made mobile aerial work platforms (MEWPs) and will take effect in early 2025. The effect of these early shipments is reflected in the 2024 revenue data of multiple companies.
In 2024, Dingli Group's revenue increased by 19.8% year-on-year to 1.2 billion US dollars, while Zoomlion's revenue increased by 23.4% to 1.09 billion US dollars.
In addition to the large-scale production of scissor lifts and arm lifts, niche equipment fields are also facing headwinds.
Spider style elevators, car mounted elevators, and other specialized platform manufacturers - these types of equipment are commonly used in the public utility and maintenance fields, and are less affected by fluctuations in the construction cycle, making it difficult to compensate for the losses caused by the overall market downturn.
However, against the backdrop of overall weakness, there are still several companies that have risen against the trend. For example, Japanese OEM manufacturer Tadano achieved an astonishing 37.5% year-on-year growth. Despite the weakening of the domestic market, the company still benefits from international expansion and strategic product portfolio diversification, including the acquisition of Nagano, an expert in tracked aerial work platforms, in 2023.
Similarly, French car mounted high-altitude lifting platform manufacturer Klubb has achieved strong revenue growth through market expansion in Latin America and integration of Titan Aero and Isoli Recovery series products. In the high-end field of the AccessM20 ranking, Altec has included the revenue of its newly acquired German spider lift subsidiary (formerly part of China's Dingli Group) in its statistics, further consolidating its market position.
Data shows that although American manufacturers will hold approximately 42% of the market share in both 2023 and 2024, the proportion of Chinese manufacturers will slightly increase from 32.8% in 2023 to 34.9% in 2024.
Meanwhile, the total revenue of Canadian manufacturer Skyjack has decreased from 9.7% in 2023 to 7.3% in 2024.
