text: Producing forklifts is the heart of our business, although we also build marine products, mostly 
  
  fiberglass boats and outboard motors. During the year a major issue for our forklift division was 
  
  the rising price of steel, which seriously affects forklift production. We increased our selling price 
  
  in response, as did the rest of the industry. Fortunately, we met or surpassed our targets in 
  
  Japan and in Europe, where we have a plant in Spain. We were slightly below our target for the 
  
  U.S., however, the result of a slight delay in the start of production on a new model, which 
  
  reduced volume for the year. We have since recovered our strength in that market, which we see 
  
  as key to our continued growth. 
  
  A major contributor to our expansion was the release of a new forklift in Japan two years 
  
  ago. At the time we had not released a new model in over seven years. Over the coming years 
  
  we plan to introduce a new battery-powered model in major markets and enhance our service 
  
  network. Since forklifts are production equipment, their sales are highly influenced by business 
  
  cycles. To help maintain our profitability, we need to ramp up our parts and service businesses, 