INTERVIEW: FRANK NERENHAUSEN
certain areas that are expected to grow three
and four percent and those that are in decline
and that’s going to be an issue for a while.
“We are seeing very baseline potential
growth where the fleet is old and the
customers are placing some initial orders, so I
don’t think there is any one standout segment
in that economy that is really shining. It’s slow
recovery on a regional basis, early stages.”
Thankfully, North America seems to
have lifted out of these gloomy economic
conditions, and if the positivity felt at
ConExpo is anything to go by, then that’s
certainly true. Mr Nerenhausen has a similar
take on the continent. “Housing is still not
at a normal pace but projections for growth
for 2014 are quite robust and I think we are
still in early stages of seeing non-residential
spending increase; so you put those altogether
and you have a fairly positive runway for 2014
and beyond.Then you have the energy sector
which kicks in on top of that.”
Concerning investment plans of the big
rental companies in North America, “Their
cap-ex is perhaps flattish to slightly increasing
year-over-year but there is some growth
capital starting to move into the mix.”
Moving back to telehandlers, the segment
has been going from strength-to-strength in
North America of late and, according to Mr
Nerenhausen, that’s set to continue this year.
At ConExpo JLG showed to models in its
newly upgraded SkyTrak telehandler series,
the 10054 and 8042.
“SkyTrak is an extraordinarily popular
machine in the construction markets and we
are not trying to reposition that product we
are just giving it some features to maintain
that popularity; so putting in ergonomically-
correct features in the cab, giving it some
more precise controllability, giving it an air-
conditioning option.”
Hybrid future
One of the issues of late that all manufacturers
have had to deal with is Tier 4 Final and
EU Stage IV emission laws. Whereas some
manufacturers have found the regulations to
be a costly problem, Mr Nerenhausen has a
philosophical approach. “There’s a positive
and negative, depending on who you talk to.
Clearly Tier 4 is a challenge, but I think as
folks consider Tier 4 and look ahead to future
regulations it does open the pathway for new
technologies like hybrids, and we are really
excited about hybrids going forward.”
At ConExpo JLG introduced, what it
described as the world’s first true four-wheel
electric-drive hybrid boom, the H340AJ.
“I think, if initial feedback is an indication,
you’ll see more hybrids coming out of JLG. I
think that will be a path that customers will
look towards going forward. With the various
regulations and the commitment to green
sustainability, hybrids are the natural fit.”
Turning to low level access, JLG also
launched the new LiftPod FT series at
ConExpo. It is the tallest of all the LiftPod
products at 14 ft platform height and working
height of 20 ft. It is designed for the North
American market, which traditionally hasn’t
been as forthcoming in low level access
adoption as other nations. “I think we are
probably a little bit ahead of the market with
the FT but we feel that ultimately this is the
direction the market will go in. You can see
how even ladders are evolving to have more
attachments and safety gear and the next
evolution is the LiftPod type machine.”
Once you get passed that working height of
20 ft you can be into [the area] of other types
of machines and we think right now 20 ft and
below is what we will be focusing on.”
The company has also extended its
reconditioning programme for combustion
booms to its telehandler range. Mr
Nerenhausen talks about the reconditioning
programme in general. “It is all about giving
customers an option, I think the situation
varies from customer-to-customer and I
think the fleet age of the given products and
the amount of capital that is available to
spend, and a careful sophisticated balance of
this capital allocation strategy in some cases
affords the opportunity to buy a mix - you
can sell machines on the used market, you can
recondition some and buy some others new.”
As most of us will be aware JLG also
launched the 185 ft JLG 1850SJ Ultra Boom
at ConExpo. Read more about that in the big
booms feature, starting on page 23.
AI
The ‘world’s first true four-wheel electric-
drive hybrid boom’, the H340AJ.
