on top of the world

Its sister division—the automobile maker—usually gets all the glory, but Toyota's lift truck manufacturing unit recently earned some accolades of its own. Toyota Industries Corp. (TICO) has been named to Fortune magazine's list of the World's Most Admired Companies.

This is the first time that TICO has appeared on the Global 50 All-Star list, where it was ranked as the 36th most admired company, tied with Lowe's. On top of that, TICO earned the top spot in the motor vehicle parts industry ranking, moving up from last year's number two position.

Though the American public is far more familiar with Toyota's cars, Toyota is also a leading supplier of lift trucks worldwide. In fact, TICO subsidiary Toyota Material Handling, U.S.A., Inc. (TMHU) has been the top-selling lift-truck supplier in the United States since 2002. TMHU manufactures most of the lift trucks it sells in the United States at a plant in Columbus, Ind.

As for Toyota Motor Corp., the better-known automobile manufacturing division, it didn't do too badly either. Toyota Motor grabbed the number two spot on the World's Most Admired Companies list.