Capital Equipment News March 2018

BAUMA CONEXPO AFRICA REVIEW – BACKHOE LOADERS

Mahindra South Africa used bauma CONEXPO AFRICA to launch its EarthMaster backhoe loader into the local market.

Leveraging its strong automotive network in southern Africa, with over 40 000 vehicles sold since its inception in October 2004, Mahindra South Africa, a fully-owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra of India, has expanded into the local construction equipment market with the launch of its EarthMaster backhoe loader. It will challenge for a share of the entry-level tier of the highly- contested local backhoe loader market. By Munesu Shoko New digger on the block

M ahindra South Africa used bauma CONEXPO AFRICA 2018 to expand its product reach in the local market with the launch of its new backhoe loader, the EarthMaster. The backhoe loader, popularly known as the TLB in local circles, remains the most prominent piece of equipment in South Africa and southern Africa at large. Together with the skid-steer, the two solutions constitute almost half of the annual sales of a 5 000-6 000 unit construction equipment market. The TLB is regarded as the workhorse of the local industry and with its versatility, it’s a unit that affords small and upcoming contractors the much- needed stepping stone into the construction contracting business. However, it is also worthwhile to note that this is an overtraded market with close to 20 suppliers jostling for a share of the market and the dominance of some premium makers such as JCB and Caterpillar in this segment is just hard to beat. This is exacerbated by the shift towards other seemingly cost-effective solutions such as the compact excavator and the compact loader in some of the traditional applications where the TLB has always been regarded as the ultimate solution.

QUICK TAKE

The Mahindra EarthMaster backhoe loader made its official debut at bauma CONEXPO AFRICA

It is an entry-level backhoe suited for smaller and upcoming contractors

CAPITAL EQUIPMENT NEWS MARCH 2018 20