Capital Equipment News June 2018

PROFILE

Gaining ground

As LiuGong Machinery South Africa celebrates 13 years of active presence in the South African market, general manager Li Yi points out that several key investments into aftermarket support structures in recent years have allowed the Chinese OEM to gain

ample ground in the local construction and mining

equipment market. By Munesu Shoko

Munesu Shoko [MS]: LiuGong has come a long way in South Africa, from being viewed with disdain – as was the case with most Chinese brands during the early days of your arrival – to becoming a force to be reckoned with in the local equipment market. Surely, the quality concerns have been quelled? Li Yi [LY]: We believe that quality was never an issue with our product. It’s the usual scepticism that surrounds a new brand in a new market. To give you an idea, we officially started to actively market the brand in South Africa in 2005 – although some of the machines arrived earlier than that through importers – and the first machine to arrive in the country was the ZL50 wheel loader, and some of the units from the very first batch are still operating, which is a key indicator of the tough nature of the product. For the same reason, the ZL50 remains the most popular machine in China. I fully agree that the brand has come a long way, both in the local market and globally. To date, we have some 2 000 machines operating in southern Africa, excluding those that are now out of service. By the end of 2017, LiuGong had sold a total of 350 000 units across the globe in 59 years of the company’s existence. As we celebrate the company’s 60 th anniversary this year, I am confident that with the trust we have earned in the global market, the next 350 000 units will be sold in the next 10 years. Bear in mind that last year alone we sold more than 50 000 units globally.

LIUGONG CELEBRATES 60 TH ANNIVERSARY Chinese original equipment manufacturer, LiuGong is celebrating its 60 th anniversary in 2018. The company started with 500 workers in the provincial city of Liuzhou in 1958. For 60 years, LiuGong Machinery Corporation has been one of the leaders in China’s construction equipment manufacturing industry. From building the country’s first modern wheel loader, LiuGong has evolved to become one of the fastest growing, construction equipment companies in the world offering a full line of extreme duty and intuitive machines. Today, LiuGong is a success story with its 20 manufacturing facilities producing engines, components and 15 different product lines combining over 100 different product types.

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