Toyota Material Handling Europe has invested 350 million kronor in building a new, state-of-the-art powder coating facility at its forklift factory in Mjölby. The facility, which spans over 7,000 square meters, is the company’s largest-ever production investment, and the grand opening took place on January 28 with visitors from around the world.
– We are the market leader in Europe, and we operate in an industry with a bright future. “We are proud to inaugurate our largest production investment to date as a significant milestone for continued growth, innovation, and delivery reliability for our customers,” says Kristian Björkman, Senior Vice President of Supply at Toyota Material Handling Europe.
The facility has been under construction since 2023 and represents a key investment aimed at increasing production capacity at the Mjölby plant. In 2025, approximately 90,000 electric forklifts were manufactured at the plant, and the new powder coating facility, Paletten, is a crucial piece of the puzzle in realizing the company’s long-term vision of manufacturing 120,000 electric forklifts per year in Mjölby. In addition to expanded production capacity, the painting facility also contributes to an improved work environment by enabling continuous two-shift operations instead of three shifts. Paletten has a factory area of over 7,000 square meters and is a paint shop equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, such as 3D scanning of the goods before painting and advanced automation throughout the entire process to maintain high quality and efficiency. The new facility has been integrated with existing buildings to ensure a seamless production flow.
“The Paletten reflects our commitment to operational excellence and innovation. The modernization of a key part of our production flow is in line with our ambition to reduce our environmental footprint,” says Ernesto Domínguez, CEO and Group President, Toyota Material Handling Europe.
Toyota Material Handling Europe aims to achieve net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by FY 2041 (across the entire value chain) and is a member of the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI). The new paint shop was designed with this in mind and features several solutions that help minimize the company’s environmental impact.
In conjunction with the start of production, the paint shop was officially inaugurated with representatives from around the world, including the European executive management team, representatives from Toyota Industries Corporation in Japan, and the project management team. The inauguration was intended both to mark the start of the long-term vision and to showcase the facility in full operation. The project has been highly successful and has distinguished itself through high quality, strong adherence to the schedule, and innovative technical solutions.
