HANGCHA: From Lifting Tools to Intelligent Entities, Forklift Industry Enters the Era of Embodied Intelligence

August 26,2026      51cm.com

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Content Validity:CCTV's ""Economic Information Broadcast"" recently reported on the thriving demand in China's forklift industry, emphasizing the shift towards electrification and intelligence. From January to July, national forklift sales hit 1.0098 million units, a 17.7% increase year-on-year, with exports exceeding 380,000 units, up 22%. Leading this transformation, Hangcha Group is evolving from a traditional manufacturer into a provider of smart logistics solutions, heralding an era of embodied intelligence for forklifts. In Hangcha's experimental workshop, a self-operating forklift robot maneuvers with the aid of nine cameras, autonomously identifying obstacles and plotting material handling routes. These robots are not merely unmanned; they have genuine ""perception"" and ""decision-making"" abilities. Hangcha's CTO, Wang Wenfei, stated that while traditional AGVs follow commands, forklift robots determine how to complete tasks independently, substituting a driver's judgment and execution. Hangcha Group introduced the ""LogiMind"" embodied AI model, which serves as the ""brain"" for industrial vehicles. This model integrates a ""cloud brain"" for coordination with a ""local brain"" for real-time perception and decision-making. Chief Scientist Tao Yikun highlighted that forklifts encounter numerous real-world scenarios, generating a constant stream of data. He views forklift robots as a ""bridge"" in embodied intelligence, leveraging the commercial patterns of autonomous driving and fine perception akin to humanoid robots. The market for unmanned forklifts is growing, with hundreds already in operation across various sectors. The average price is projected to decrease from 220,000 yuan in 2024 to 180,000 yuan by 2027, with the market size expanding from 5.15 billion yuan to over 13.3 billion yuan by the same year, a CAGR of 37.4%. Hangcha's intelligent logistics subsidiary, Hangcha Guozhi,