Hangcha Group said it plans to issue convertible bonds of up to 2.259 billion yuan to non specific investors. After fees, the money goes to a forklift robot smart factory, a new energy forklift expansion, forklift and logistics robot R and D, and working capital.
The split shows where the bet sits. About 759 million yuan builds the forklift robot smart factory, buying smart equipment to create scaled delivery capacity. A further 225 million yuan funds forklift and logistics robot R and D, buying hardware and software and recruiting talent to lift its capabilities in those areas.
The financials support the pivot. Revenue ran 16.72 billion, 16.75 billion and 17.74 billion yuan in 2023, 2024 and 2025, with net profit of 1.561 billion, 2.177 billion and 2.318 billion. In the first half of 2026 revenue reached 10.1 billion yuan, up 8.65 per cent, and net profit attributable to shareholders was 1.215 billion yuan, up 8.89 per cent, with both still rising.
The logic is the ceiling on the old business. A traditional forklift is like a human driver in a warehouse: hiring is hard, labour cost keeps climbing, people err, and cargo safety and job data are hard to govern. Selling bare hardware is a red ocean with thinning margins. Robots are one way past the growth wall and a core step into the digital warehouse.
Hangcha is not alone in this turn. China’s forklift and industrial vehicle makers are restructuring around automation as warehouse labour gets scarce and customers want connected, programmable fleets rather than standalone trucks. A smart factory plus a dedicated R and D line signals Hangcha intends to own the robot layer, not just bolt it on.
For European material handling incumbents the pattern is familiar and uncomfortable: a dominant hardware maker uses its volume and cash flow to fund an in house automation stack, then sells the combined system into the same warehouses it already serves. The competition shifts from who builds the better truck to who runs the smarter floor.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original OFweek report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://robot.ofweek.com/2026-09/ART-8321202-8120-30703504.html.