Capital Equipment News April 2022

SMALL ARTICULATED LOADERS

Gaining traction

market,” says Chattaway. “Our aim is to be able to provide the right loader solution for all applications across industries. The SAL range – which complements our mini excavator offering – will particularly be of great benefit to landscaping customers due to its light footprint and heavy material handling capabilities.” Opportunity and applications Despite the lack of formal industry reporting on the total size of the market, Chattaway tells Capital Equipment News that Europe remains the biggest SAL market to date. However, leveraging its extensive dealer network, Bobcat sees great opportunity in both the Middle East and Africa. “With ease of operation, high lifting capabilities and versatility (provided by a wide range of attachments) being some of the key attributes of the Bobcat SAL range, we see massive opportunities in farming, property maintenance, landscaping, municipalities and light construction work. The range also lends itself to the rental market,” says Chattaway.

A s part of its Next is Now programme, Bobcat unveiled its L23 and L28 SAL models in May last year, marking the company’s foray into the small articulated loader market. With the arrival of the SAL range, Bobcat says it now has the largest compact loader portfolio of any manufacturer in the world. Speaking to Capital Equipment News , Chattaway says entering the SAL segment has allowed Bobcat to extend its reach in the loader market, thus increasing its offering to customers, as well as business opportunities for the company and its comprehensive dealer network throughout Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “We have been following the progress of the small articulated loader market closely for some time and we were convinced that the timing was right for our entry into the Having entered the small articulated loader (SAL) market for the first time in 2021, Bobcat has received its first orders from Africa, with customer deliveries due soon. Despite the slow uptake in the Middle East and Africa region, John Chattaway, loaders product manager at Bobcat, believes that the SAL range will soon gain traction due to its suitability to the remote and often difficult working environments in Africa. By Munesu Shoko .

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