Capital Equipment News July 2019

BACKHOE LOADERS

The rise of value backhoe loader offerings

That the cutthroat South African backhoe loader market has always been dominated by premium brands is no point of contention. However, value brands have announced themselves with a competitively priced yet quality offering that speaks directly to the needs of emerging contractors, writes Munesu Shoko .

T he backhoe loader segment is a lucrative, but fiercely contested market in South Africa. It is approximately a 1 700 unit market per year, but with close to 20 competitors vying for a share. Traditionally, it has always been dominated by premium brands, but in recent years value brands have successfully challenged for a share of the market, armed with competitively priced solutions that meet the needs of the emerging contractor market. Another talking point is the world-class aftersales service regimes with which these brands are supported. Some of the leading premium names in this market segment include JCB, Caterpillar, Komatsu, CASE Construction and Bell Equipment, among others. However,

in recent years, SDLG, LiuGong, XCMG and Mahindra, are among some of the value names that have announced themselves in the local backhoe loader market. Equipped with their new generation offerings, which come with an array of upgrades, SDLG, LiuGong and XCMG are particularly in the hunt for an increased foothold in this market segment. As far as their growth is concerned, generally the trend within the global construction market is for customers wanting machinery that costs less and capable of undertaking less rugged jobs where premium machines are not essential. According to David Vaughan, MD of Babcock’s equipment division, this is basically the case with the backhoe loader market. Vaughan reasons that, by its very nature a backhoe loader is not a high production

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