Hitachi, Deere joint venture to be dissolved

Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) and Deere & Co. have announced plans to dissolve their joint venture in the Americas. The dissolution will be completed February 28, 2022. At the same time, HCM announced that Hitachi Construction Machinery Loaders America Inc. (HCMA) will assume all product and service operations for the Americas in spring 2022. HCMA will remain a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery Group.

HCMA said it plans to add more than 60 new local positions to strengthen its North American headquarters in Newnan, Ga.

Hitachi’s construction and mining equipment will continue to be manufactured in Japan.

Masaaki Hirose, chairman and HCM executive officer, will continue to be responsible for HCMA. Alan Quinn, who currently serves as CEO, will continue in the same role.

“HCM, through HCMA, will be able to better determine its own destiny in the Americas with its own business strategies, improved products and services, and updated technologies, all provided through a revamped and strengthened distribution network,” Quinn said.

Beginning spring of 2022, HCMA said will introduce new equipment to the Americas with technologies that increase efficiency and safety while lowering total cost of ownership. The company plans to differentiate itself through the product capabilities of these new machines, including the latest in hydraulic systems, innovative uptime and IoT services, and advanced safety features. It will also assess the potential for new products.

HCMA said it will be able to structure its business to respond to market changes and fulfill the evolving needs of equipment owners and operators. In construction, price competition for new machinery from emerging countries is intensifying and demands for improvement in safety and efficiency on job sites are becoming stricter. In mining, competition for hydraulic excavators and dump trucks used in mines has intensified as the global trend to reduce CO2 through automation, unmanned and electrification has increased. In after-sales service, the development of uptime services is also growing.

“HCM has been improving and investing in business strategies since 2017 to prepare for the creation of HCMA,” Quinn said. “This includes many ‘value chain’ initiatives to bolster parts and service, rental, used equipment, remanufactured parts and financing. It has also been improving technologies in analytics, IoT, telematics, fleet management and uptime services. In the future, HCMA will be able to better utilize these advances to capture more market share.”

In the short term, all wheel loaders, excavators and mining equipment will be manufactured in Japan.

Future growth

One of HCMA’s main strategies will be to increase the usage of ConSite globally. The company will extend the service to new Hitachi brand excavators and continue to expand its use in mining. The goal is to increase the use of telematics and predictive analytics to increase uptime.

HCMA’s other goals include:

• Strengthen its regional headquarters in the Americas
• Formulate new market strategies
• Rebuild and strengthen its distribution network in North America
• Respond to increased demand from mining and civil engineering for safer equipment that is more productive and reduces total lifecycle costs
• Promote sustainable initiatives for manufacturing, construction and mining; reduce dependence on coal-related businesses, reduce CO2 emissions
• Continue to aggressively expand into mining, particularly in Latin America
• Expand rental and used equipment businesses

“We are very excited to begin this new chapter as HCMA,” Quinn said. “We have an ambitious plan for the future, and we are focused on dynamically responding to the needs of our customers and the quickly changing nature of the equipment market.”