Hyster-Yale Materials announces strategic business realignment

Hyster-Yale announced a strategic business realignment of its Nuvera fuel cell business designed both to increase near term profits and to create an integrated energy solutions program at Nuvera’s Billerica facility which will be part of its Hyster-Yale Materials (HY) Handling, or HYMH, business. That program will include HYMH’s development, manufacturing, and commercialization of its lithium-ion battery modules, battery chargers, battery management systems, and energy management activities, to be carried out in the Billerica facility and as needed, in HYMH’s other facilities around the world; as well as development, manufacturing and commercialization of a mobile, modular and scalable hybrid electric charging platform to provide off grid power solutions. This platform will use both HYMH’s battery solutions and also have a variant called HydroCharge which incorporates Nuvera’s patented fuel cell technology; and a downsized and limited fuel cell program focused on completing final development and testing of its higher powered 125KW fuel cell for use in HYMH’s port equipment and in larger HydroCharge applications. This fuel cell program reflects the company’s conclusion that its current fuel cell business will not reach the company’s profitability objectives in an acceptable period. This strategic alignment is expected to achieve, beginning in the second half of 2025, direct annualized cost reductions of $15M-$20M and indirect cost reductions of $10M-$15M by absorbing Nuvera resources into open positions focused on accelerating development of its battery products and services and mobile charging platform as well as other HYMH immediate needs. The company expects to incur employee severance and impairment costs in Q2 of approximately $15M-$18M. Additional charges or expenditures are possible as the program progresses. Initial sales of its HydroCharge product are expected to begin in the second half of 2025, and battery and fuel cell electric port equipment trucks are already in testing in customer applications. This strategic realignment is part of Hyster-Yale’s broader strategic change program designed to transform Hyster-Yale’s core counterbalanced forklift truck business while building new business opportunities in the warehouse forklift truck market, automation, energy management, and attachment activities through its HYMH and Bolzoni businesses.