Komatsu has a rich history that dates back to 1917 when Takeuchi Mining Industry established Komatsu Iron Works to manufacture machine tools and mining equipment for in-house use. Four years later Komatsu Ltd was formed and by 1931 had produced Japan's first crawler-type farm tractor. In 1953 Komatsu began production of forklift trucks, dump trucks and special purpose vehicles and two years later exported its first production equipment to Argentina. From the opening of our first overseas office in India in 1964 - the same year the first forklift was presented in Australia - our exclusive distributorship began. Komatsu is now a major international player in the manufacture and sale of construction and mining equipment, utilities and industrial machinery. In 2009 Komatsu Limited became the 100% owner of Komatsu Forklift Australia. At that time, we became the first factory owned overseas Forklift Company in Komatsu’s global network.