Hyster-Yale Materials Handling Inc. (NYSE:HY): Alfred M Rankin’s New Filing

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, DC 20549

SCHEDULE 13D

Under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(Amendment No.     )

Hyster-Yale
Materials Handling, Inc.

(Name of Issuer)

Class B Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share

(Title of Class of Securities)

449172204

(CUSIP Number)

Alfred M. Rankin, Jr.

5875 Landerbrook Drive, Suite 300

Cleveland, Ohio 44124-4017

(440) 449-9600

(Name,
Address and Telephone Number of Person Authorized to Receive Notices and Communications)

March 2017

(Date of Event Which Requires Filing of This Statement)

If the filing
person has previously filed a statement on Schedule 13G to report the acquisition that is the subject of this Schedule 13D, and is filing this schedule because of §§240.13d-1(e), 240.13d-1(f) or 240.13d-1(g), check the following
box.  ☐

The information required on the remainder of this cover page shall not be deemed to be filed
for the purpose of Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Act) or otherwise subject to the liabilities of that section of the Act but shall be subject to all other provisions of the Act
(however, see the Notes).

(continued on following pages)

Part II to Schedule D

Item 1. Security and Issuer.

The
title and class of equity securities to which this Schedule 13D relates is Class B common stock, par value $0.01 per share (Class B Common), of Hyster-Yale Materials Handling, Inc. (the Issuer).
The address of the principal executive offices of the Issuer is 5875 Landerbrook Drive, Cleveland, Ohio 44124.

Item 2. Identity and Background.

(a)(c) This Schedule 13D is filed on behalf of AMR Associates, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership (AMR
Associates), the general partners of AMR Associates (the General Partners) and the limited partner of AMR Associates (the Limited Partner and, collectively with AMR Associates and the
General Partners, the Reporting Persons) who, pursuant to Rule 13d-5(b)(1) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the Act), may be deemed as a group to have acquired beneficial ownership of the
Class B Common of the Issuer as a result of such Reporting Persons, including their revocable trusts, becoming signatories to the Limited Partnership Agreement of AMR Associates, L.P., dated as of October 28, 2016, among the stockholders party
thereto (the AMR Associates Partnership Agreement), filed as Exhibit 1 hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

Although the Reporting Persons are making this joint filing, neither the fact of this filing nor anything contained herein shall be deemed to
be an admission by the Reporting Persons that a group exists within the meaning of the Act.

The names, and, for purposes of this filing,
the business address, and present principal occupation or employment, and the name, principal business and address of any corporation or other organization in which such employment is conducted, as well as the state of organization, principal
business, address of the principal business and the address of the principal office, as applicable, for the Reporting Persons are as follows:

AMR Associates, L.P. AMR Associates is a Delaware limited partnership. Its principal business is to hold, under common management,
shares of Class A common stock of the Issuer, par value $0.01 per share (Class A Common) and Class B Common, beneficially owned by certain of the Reporting Persons. The address of its principal business and its
principal office is 5875 Landerbrook Drive, Suite 300, Mayfield Heights, Ohio 44124-4017. The following Reporting Persons are trustees and primary beneficiaries of trusts acting as General Partners or Limited Partner of AMR Associates: Helen R.
Butler, Clara T. Rankin Williams and Alfred M. Rankin, Jr.

Alfred M. Rankin, Jr. Mr. Rankins resident address is 7421
Markell Road, Waite Hill, Ohio 44094. He is (a) Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Issuer at 5875 Landerbrook Drive, Suite 300, Cleveland, Ohio 44124 and (b) Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of NACCO
Industries, Inc., a Delaware corporation (NACCO), at 5875 Landerbrook Drive, Suite 220, Cleveland, Ohio 44124.

Clara T. Rankin Williams. Ms. Williams resident address is 1654 N. Dayton, Chicago, Illinois 60614. She is a jewelry
designer.

Helen R. Butler. Ms. Butlers resident address is 7575 Old Mill Road, P.O. Box 477, Gates Mills, Ohio 44040.
She is not employed.

Item 3. Source and Amount of Funds or Other Consideration.

The Class B Common held by the Reporting Persons was primarily acquired on September 28, 2012, when NACCO completed the spin-off of the
Issuer to NACCOs stockholders and, subsequently thereto, in market purchases and pursuant to equity awards by the Issuer. Immediately following the spin-off, the Issuer became an independent public company.

To effect the spin-off, NACCO made a distribution of all of the outstanding shares of the Issuers common stock held by NACCO to NACCO
common stockholders as of the record date, 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on September 25, 2012. For each share of Class A common stock of NACCO, par value $1.00 per share (the NACCO Class A Common), held on
September 28, 2012, NACCO distributed one share of Class A Common and one share of Class B Common. Similarly, for each share of Class B common stock of NACCO, par value $1.00 per share (the NACCO Class B Common),
held on September 28, 2012, NACCO distributed one share of Class B Common and one share of Class A Common.

NACCO stockholders
were not required to pay for shares of Class A Common or Class B Common received in the spin-off, or to surrender or exchange shares of NACCO Class A Common or NACCO Class B Common or take any other action to receive the Class A
Common or Class B Common.

Immediately after the spin-off, holders of NACCO Class A Common and NACCO Class B Common held all of the
outstanding shares of the Class A Common and Class B Common. In connection with the spin-off, NACCO distributed 8,389,563 shares of Class A Common and 8,389,563 shares of Class B Common to NACCO stockholders.

Subsequently, the Reporting Persons transferred certain of such Class A Common shares and Class B Common shares to AMR Associates on
December 2, 2016 as capital contributions, pursuant to the AMR Associates Partnership Agreement, in connection with the formation of AMR Associates.

Item 4. Purpose of Transaction.

The
purpose of the formation of AMR Associates and the Reporting Individuals entering into and delivering the AMR Associates Partnership Agreement, and the acquisition by AMR Associates of the Class A Common and Class B Common was to
(a) provide the Reporting Individuals with a mechanism for consolidating the management of their holdings of Class A Common and Class B Common in a manner that would allow coordinated family management of such Class A Common and Class
B Common and (b) to facilitate the estate planning objectives of the Reporting Individuals.

Item 5. Interest in Securities of the Issuer.

(a)(b) Although each Reporting Person disclaims beneficial ownership of any shares of Class B Common beneficially owned by each
other Reporting Person, pursuant to the Act and regulations thereunder the Reporting Persons may be deemed as a group to have acquired beneficial ownership of 217,394 shares of Class B Common, the aggregate number of shares of Class B Common which
are subject to the terms of the AMR Associates Partnership Agreement, representing 5.54% of the outstanding Class B Common as of December 31, 2016.

AMR Associates, L.P. AMR Associates is made up of the individuals and entities holding limited and general partnership interests
in AMR Associates. AMR Associates may be deemed to be a group as defined under the Act and therefore may be deemed as a group to beneficially own 217,394 shares of Class B Common held by AMR Associates. Although AMR Associates holds the
217,394 shares of Class B Common, it does not have any power to vote or dispose of such shares of Class B Common. Helen R. Butler and Clara T. Rankin Williams, as trustees and primary beneficiaries of trusts that are General Partners, are deemed to
share the power to vote and dispose of such shares of Class B Common. Collectively, the 217,394 shares of Class B Common beneficially owned by AMR Associates constitute approximately 5.54% of the Class B Common outstanding as of December 31,
2016.

Alfred M. Rankin, Jr. Mr. Rankin has the sole power to vote and dispose of 29,759
shares of Class B Common, shares the power to vote 1,487,360 shares of Class B Common and shares the power to dispose of 1,704,754 shares of Class B Common. Collectively, the 1,734,513 shares of Class B Common beneficially owned by Mr. Rankin
constitute approximately 44.20% of the Class B Common outstanding as of December 31, 2016.

Clara T. Rankin Williams.
Ms. Williams has the sole power to vote and dispose of 64,266 shares of Class B Common, shares the power to vote 217,394 shares of Class B Common and shares the power to dispose of 1,654,447 shares of Class B Common. Collectively, the 1,718,713
shares of Class B Common beneficially owned by Ms. Williams constitute approximately 43.84% of the Class B Common outstanding as of December 31, 2016.

Helen R. Butler. Ms. Butler has the sole power to vote and dispose of 58,586 shares of Class B Common, shares the power to vote
217,394 shares of Class B Common and shares the power to dispose of 1,679,387 shares of Class B Common. Collectively, the 1,737,973 shares of Class B Common beneficially owned by Ms. Butler constitute approximately 44.33% of the Class B Common
outstanding as of December 31, 2016.

Item 6. Contracts, Arrangements, Understandings or Relationships With Respect to Securities of the
Issuer.

AMR Associates, L.P.

Under the terms of the AMR Associates Partnership Agreement filed as Exhibit 1 hereto and incorporated herein by reference, the General
Partners have the power to vote the Class A Common and Class B Common held by the partnership. Further, under such terms, the General Partners generally exercise such power by a vote of the General Partners holding a majority of the general
partnership interests.

Under the terms of the AMR Associates Partnership Agreement, the partnership may not dispose of Class A
Common or Class B Common, or convert Class B Common into Class A Common, without the consent of the General Partners and the consent of the holders of more than 75% of all partnership interests, including the general partnership interests, in
the partnership (AMR Associates Partnership Interests).

The AMR Associates Partnership Agreement restricts the
transfer of AMR Associates Partnership Interests by the partners and provides the partners and the partnership with a right of first refusal to acquire AMR Associates Partnership Interests that a partner desires to sell and a repurchase obligation
to compel the sale of AMR Associates Partnership Interests by the partners under certain circumstances. These transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal and repurchase obligations are more fully set forth in the AMR Associates Partnership
Agreement.

Rankin Associates II, L.P.

Under the terms of the Limited Partnership Agreement of Rankin Associates II, L.P. (Rankin II), dated as of
February 6, 1998 (the Rankin II Partnership Agreement), filed as Exhibit 2 hereto and incorporated herein by reference, Rankin Management, Inc. (RMI) has the power to vote the NACCO
Class A Common, NACCO Class B Common, Class A Common and Class B Common held by the partnership.

Under the terms of the Rankin
II Partnership Agreement, the partnership may not dispose of NACCO Class A Common, NACCO Class B Common, Class A Common or Class B Common, or convert NACCO Class B Common or Class B Common into NACCO Class A Common or Class A
Common, respectively, without the consent of RMI and the consent of the holders of more than 75% of all partnership interests, including the general partnership interests, in the partnership (Rankin II Partnership
Interests).

The Rankin II Partnership Agreement restricts the transfer of Rankin II Partnership Interests by the partners
and provides the partners and the partnership with a right of first refusal to acquire Rankin II Partnership Interests that a partner desires to sell and a repurchase obligation to compel the sale of Rankin II Partnership Interests by the partners
under certain circumstances. These transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal and repurchase obligations are more fully set forth in the Rankin II Partnership Agreement.

Stockholders Agreement

The Stockholders Agreement, dated as of September 28, 2012, among the signatories thereto and the Issuer (the
Stockholders Agreement), filed as Exhibit 3 hereto and incorporated herein by reference, requires a signatory to offer the shares of Class B Common beneficially owned by such signatory to all of the other signatories
upon the occurrence of either of the following: (a) the proposed conversion of shares of Class B Common by such signatory into shares of Class A Common and (b) the proposed sale, transfer or other disposition of Class B Common by such
signatory to any permitted transferee (under the terms of the Class B Common) who is not a signatory to the Stockholders Agreement. In either of these cases, the signatory proposing to enter into one of these transactions must notify all of
the other signatories and then must allow each such other signatory the opportunity to purchase such signatorys pro rata portion of the shares of Class B Common which are subject to the proposed transaction in accordance with the procedures
described below. The Stockholders Agreement, however, does not restrict transfers of Class B Common among the signatories or any other permitted transferee who becomes a signatory to the Stockholders Agreement.

A signatory proposing to engage in a transaction triggering a right of first refusal must first give written notice of the proposed
transaction by registered mail to the Issuer, which acts as depository under the Stockholders Agreement. The depository, in turn, is required to send such notice promptly to all of the other signatories. Following receipt of such notice, each
other signatory will have seven (7) business days to elect whether or not to purchase his, her or its pro rata portion of the shares of the Class B Common which have triggered right of first refusal. A signatorys pro rata portion will be
determined by dividing the number of shares of Class B Common which such person owns by the number of shares of Class B Common which are owned by all of the other signatories who similarly may elect to purchase the shares of Class B Common which
have triggered the right of first refusal. A notice electing to purchase a pro rata portion of the shares of Class B Common must be sent to the depository by the end of the seven (7) business day period. If the signatories electing to purchase
do not elect to purchase all of the shares of Class B Common, then such signatories have an additional five (5) business days to agree among themselves how to allocate the shares not purchased. If they cannot reach any agreement, the allocation
shall be pro rata. If there are still shares of Class B Common which are not purchased following such allocation, then the Issuer shall have an additional three (3) business days to decide whether or not to purchase the remaining shares. The
Issuer, however, is under no obligation to purchase any such shares.

Following the completion of such procedures, the signatory who has
triggered the right of first refusal is free, for a period of thirty (30) business days, to convert the shares of Class B Common, if any, which remain, into shares of Class A Common. If the signatory had originally proposed to transfer the
shares, such signatory would be free to transfer shares of Class A Common in accordance with the originally proposed transaction.

Signatories who elect to exercise the right of first refusal and purchase shares of Class B Common may pay for such shares in cash, an
equivalent number of shares of Class A Common, or in a combination of cash and shares of Class A Common. The purchase price to be paid is the higher of what is specified in the notice sent by the signatory who has triggered the right of
first refusal and the average of the last sales price of Class A Common on the New York Stock Exchange for the five days prior to the date of such notice.

The Stockholders Agreement only restricts the conversion, or the sales or other disposition outside of the Stockholders Agreement,
of shares of Class B Common held by each signatory. The Stockholders Agreement does not restrict in any respect how a signatory may vote the shares of Class B Common which, among other things, are subject to the terms of the Stockholders
Agreement.

Subsequent to September 28, 2012, the Stockholders Agreement was amended to include additional signatories. These
amendments are filed as Exhibits 4 through 9 hereto and incorporated herein by reference.

Rankin Associates I, L.P.

Under the terms of the Limited Partnership Agreement of Rankin I, dated as of March 27, 2002 (the Rankin I Partnership
Agreement), filed as Exhibit 10 hereto and incorporated herein by reference, the general partners thereof share the power to vote the NACCO Class A Common, NACCO Class B Common, as well as shares of Class A Common and Class B
Common, held by the partnership. Further, under such terms, such general partners generally exercise such power by a vote of the general partners holding a majority of the general partnership interests.

Under the terms of the Rankin I Partnership Agreement, the partnership may not dispose of
NACCO Class A Common, NACCO Class B Common, Class A Common or Class B Common, or convert NACCO Class B Common or Class B Common into NACCO Class A Common or Class A Common, respectively, without the consent of the General
Partners holding more than 75% of the general partnership interests in the partnership and the consent of the holders of more than 75% of all partnership interests, including the general partnership interests, in the partnership (Rankin
I Partnership Interests).

The Rankin I Partnership Agreement restricts the transfer of Rankin I Partnership Interests by
the partners and provides the partners and the partnership with a right of first refusal to acquire Rankin I Partnership Interests that a partner desires to sell and a repurchase obligation to compel the sale of Rankin I Partnership Interests by the
partners under certain circumstances. These transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal and repurchase obligations are more fully set forth in the Rankin I Partnership Agreement.

Rankin Associates IV, L.P.

Under the
terms of the Amended and Restated Limited Partnership Agreement of Rankin IV, dated as of February 7, 2005 (the Rankin IV Partnership Agreement), filed as Exhibit 11 hereto and incorporated herein by reference, the
general partners of Rankin IV (the Rankin IV General Partners) share the power to vote the NACCO Class B Common, Class A Common and Class B Common held by the partnership. Further, under such terms, the Rankin IV
General Partners generally exercise such power by a vote of the Rankin IV General Partners holding a majority of the general partnership interests.

Under the terms of the Rankin IV Partnership Agreement, the partnership may not dispose of NACCO Class A Common, NACCO Class B Common,
Class A Common or Class B Common, or convert NACCO Class B Common or Class B Common into NACCO Class A Common or Class A Common, respectively, without the consent of the Rankin IV General Partners holding more than 75% of the general
partnership interests in the partnership and the consent of the holders of more than 75% of all partnership interests, including the general partnership interests, in the partnership (the Rankin IV Partnership Interests).

The Rankin IV Partnership Agreement restricts the transfer of Rankin IV Partnership Interests by the partners and provides the partners
and the partnership with a right of first refusal to acquire Rankin IV Partnership Interests that a partner desires to sell and a repurchase obligation to compel the sale of Rankin IV Partnership Interests by the partners under certain
circumstances. These transfer restrictions, rights of first refusal and repurchase obligations are more fully set forth in the Rankin IV Partnership Agreement.

Except as set forth above in this Schedule 13D or the exhibits hereto, none of the persons named in response to Item 2 hereof have any
contracts, arrangements, understandings or relationships (legal or otherwise) with any person with respect to any securities of the Issuer, including but not limited to transfer or voting of any such securities, finders fees, joint ventures,
loan or option arrangements, puts or calls, guarantees of profits or loss, or the giving or withholding of proxies.

Item 7. Material to be Filed
as Exhibits.

[Signatures begin on the next page.]

[The remainder of this page was intentionally left blank.]

After reasonable inquiry and to the best of our knowledge and belief, we certify that the
information set forth in this statement is true, complete and correct.

Date: March 10, 2017