32
CONSTRUCTION EUROPE
SEPTEMBER 2013
COMPACT LOADERS
Some of the traditional
markets for compact
loaders have been
suffering, but as
Sandy
Guthrie
finds out, that
hasn’t slowed down the
introduction of new
models
A
ny news that there is a measure of
stability in the European market can
be seen as a plus-point, and can even
lead to an amount of justified optimism – it is
just a measure of how serious the declines of
the past few years have been.
It comes as no surprise that the different
European markets are recovering from the
economic crisis at different paces, with
southern European markets still looking pale
beside the more robust northern countries.
Jose Cuadrado is vice president for compact
equipment in Europe, Middle East and Africa,
for Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment,
which has the Bobcat brand.
He said, “The southern European markets
such as Italy or Spain have traditionally been
very large markets for compact loaders. The
decline in these markets has been dramatic –
they are approximately 70% smaller than they
were in 2008.”
He added that conditions were still
challenging, with a lack of credit for private
investors, and very weak public investment.
“The economies in the south of Europe have
effectively stalled,” said Mr Cuadrado. “EU
policies based on the economies cleaning up
their act before money can become available
will result in very slow recoveries.”
He pointed out that markets in north and
central Europe were stable, however.
“Construction equipment markets in
Western Europe are currently showing no
growth,” he said.
“At Bobcat, we have been focusing on the
launch of the new generation of machines as
well as developing attachments that allow us
to access new applications. This has helped
us to gain market share in most European
markets in recent years.”
He said that outside Western Europe, there
were many markets where the company had
been seeing healthy growth.
“We have enjoyed significant sales increases
in the Middle East, Africa, Russia and Turkey in
particular,” he said.
Guillaume Chatillon, marketing manager
for Gehl/Mustang Europe, agreed about the
south of Europe.
He said, “Italy is the traditional market for
compact loaders. Currently, the Italian market
Small and versatile
The new Gehl V400 introduced this year
