IRNAPRIL-MAY 2014
IRN
reports from the
Conexpo-Con/Agg show
held in Las Vegas on
4-8March.
‘Fabulous’Conexpo
although therewas caution aswell.
Caterpillar chairman andCEO, Doug
Oberhelman set the tonewith a
guardedly optimistic overviewof
prospects for the global construction
equipment industry this year.
He singled-out NorthAmerica as one of
themost promisingmarkets, with the region
“showing the best growth signs forMarch in
four years.” On Europe he said themarket was,
“Somewhat better, comingback from a very deep
hole…Most of the badnews is behindus.”
He sounded a similar note of cautious optimism
onChina, saying the country's equipmentmarket
was recovering, but added, “I shouldnot expect
China tobe a bigboom, aswe have seen in the
past.” He acknowledged liquidity problems, but said
the country “will not fall off a cliff.”
“It is amixedbag, withNorthAmerica the
strongest growthprospect. I amguardedly
optimistic, but the global economy is a fragile
thing.”
51
CONEXPO REPORT
Almost 130000 visitors attended
the show, up 8% on 2011.
WackerNeusonplugsAmericangap
Wacker Neusonhas launched four skid steer and
compact tracked loaders developed for theNorth
Americanmarket and said the new rangewould
help it fill gaps in its distributionnetwork in the
region.
“We didn’t have a skid steer loader line, that is
the reasonwhywe have gaps in the distribution
network”, saidChris Barnard, president andCEO
ofWacker Neuson’sNorthAmerican subsidiary,
speaking at Conexpo, “We have now completed the
puzzle.”
The fourmodels comprise two skid steers and two
compact tracked loaders, beingbuilt in Europe but
jointly designedbyWacker Neuson’s Austrian and
US design teams.
The SW 24 is a radial lift skid steerwith 2350 lbof
ratedoperating capacity and the SW 28 is a 2800 lb,
vertical liftmodel. The compact tracked loaders are
the 3500 lb ST 35 – a radial lift unit – and the ST 45,
a 4500 lb, vertical lift loader.
Moremachines in the rangewill be introduced
over the next two years, with the full line likely to
be available by the endof 2016. Although they are
currently beingproduced in Europe, Wacker Neuson
hopes to eventuallymake them inNorthAmerica.
CemPeksaglam, Wacker Neuson’s CEO, said; “This
makes us evenmore attractive tomany dealers and
we cannowprovide customerswithhigh-quality
andhigh-performance compactmachines, all under
one roof.”
Terex to retain
Construction
TerexCEORonDeFeo said the company
remained committed to retainingandgrowing
its Constructiondivision, withagreater focus on
rentalmarket sales in the future.
Mr DeFeo, speakingat the Terex press
conferenceat Conexpo, said the companywould
leverage itsGenieaerial platformbusiness to
increase sales to the rental channel and further
adapt its products –which includeexcavators
andbackhoe loaders – to the rentalmarket.
“Our constructionproducts are still too
expensiveand too traditional”, he said, “Giveus
some time toadapt themandworkwithGenie
[for the rental channel]…I’d rather grow the
business thanwalk away from thebusiness.”
Therehadbeen some speculationabout the
futureof theConstructiondivision following the
decision to sell thedump truckbusiness toVolvo
CE, a transactionwhich is due to close in the
secondquarter of this year. Mr DeFeo said the
decisionhadbeen the right one for Terex.
GeorgeEllis, president of theConstruction
division, said the companywoulddevelopa
rangeof ‘channel specific’ backhoes andmaterial
handlingproducts during 2014and 2015.
Hipower, Himoinsa’s US subsidiary, showed off a range of
diesel, bi-fuel and natural gas powered gensets at the show.
Pictured is a 165 kVA natural gas unit using a PSI engine and
equippedwith a system to ‘scrub’ the gas before it enters the
genset. Hipower canmake natural gas sets up to 1 MW and
also now has a 50 kW propane powered set.
A
n 8% increase in visitor numbers to almost
130000 reinforced an upbeat feeling at
the Conexpo-Con/Agg show in Las Vegas.
International visitor numbers were also up by 8%
to around 31000, a number described by AEM show
directorMegan Tanel as “fabulous”.
The feel-good factorwas replicated inmany
of the press conferences heldduring the show,
