Sany Challenges Komatsu’s Grip on Indonesian Construction Machinery Market

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

The battle between major Japanese and Chinese construction machinery companies is intensifying in Indonesia. As the growth of the Chinese market slows, China’s Sanichi Heavy Industries is accelerating its overseas expansion in search of new sources of revenue.

Komatsu, which has a stronghold in Southeast Asia, is responding by introducing mid-priced machines and expanding its maintenance bases. Who will dominate the growing market following China will also affect the power structure of the construction equipment market in Asia.

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Komatsu to Sell Electric Construction Equipment in Europe

Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Komatsu plans to release a battery-powered compact excavator that emits no exhaust gas in Europe in 2022. The company will also promote the quietness of the product and expects to use it in residential areas. Hitachi Construction Machinery will also double orders for electric excavators in fiscal 2021 compared to the previous year. Following the trend in the automobile industry, competition in the field of electric construction machinery is now in full swing.

The compact excavator to be launched by Komatsu will use lithium-ion batteries that are lightweight and can operate for a long time. It uses a motor instead of an engine, making less noise and emitting no exhaust gas. The company will first market the product in Europe, where environmental regulations are strict, and then consider launching it in Japan. Komatsu began renting several small excavators powered by lead-acid batteries on a trial basis in Japan in April 2020.

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Müller Launches Rigid Off-Highway Truck MDT430 in Brazil

The Brazilian group that acquired Randon Veículos, the division of Randon group that produced OH Trucks and Construction Equipment, at the end of 2020 launched the first model under the Müller brand. It has a 350 HP Turbo Intercooler produced by Scania and an Allisson Automatic Transmission.

Source: M&T     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Whether lucky or visionary, Müller is well positioned to produce positive results in coming years. While mining activity in Brazil is growing with record commodities prices and public bids for new exploration areas are expanding, competitors are mostly imported and suffer from exchange rate effects.

Fabio Ferraresi is Director-Business Development, South America, for Power Systems Research

Müller Launches Rigid Off-Highway Truck MDT430 in Brazil

Fabio Ferraresi
Fabio Ferraresi

The Brazilian group that acquired Randon Veículos, the division of Randon group that produced OH Trucks and Construction Equipment, at the end of 2020 launched the first model under the Müller brand. It has a 350 HP Turbo Intercooler produced by Scania and an Allisson Automatic Transmission.

Source: M&T     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: Whether lucky or visionary, Müller is well positioned to produce positive results in coming years. While mining activity in Brazil is growing with record commodities prices and public bids for new exploration areas are expanding, competitors are mostly imported and suffer from exchange rate effects. PSR

Fabio Ferraresi is Director Business, Development-South America, for Power Systems Research

COVID-19 2020 North American Impact: Ag, -12%, Construction, -14%

HDMA-PSR COVID Webinar Presentation

COVID-19 continues to batter production of off-highway equipment as we continue to move through 2020. The effects of the virus on Agricultural and Construction equipment production in North America were analyzed in a June 17 webinar presented by the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association (HDMA) and Power Systems Research (PSR). The webinar updated information presented in PSR’s webinar in April.

Jim Downey
Jim Downey

The PSR webinar team was Jim Downey, PSR vice president-global data products , and Yosyf Sherementa, PhD, PSR director-product management and customer experience.

PSR projects AG to be down 9.4% and CN to be down 11.3% when comparing global production for this year (2020) to last year (2019).

China and India which have the largest volumes for ag machinery are the lower side for production percentage drops this year. China which is also the largest producer of construction equipment is not expecting a decline this year.

Yosyf Sheremeta
Yosyf Sheremeta

A slight recovery for Construction equipment is expected in 2021, but not until 2022 for Agricultural machinery. Ag sector recovery will ultimately depend on overall economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The construction segment will not return to pre-virus production volumes for another few years, at best. We’re looking out to 2024 or possibly 2025 to get back to 1.48 million units.

We don’t see a V-shaped type scenario on the horizon in North America, but rather recovery will look like something between a “U” and an “L.” Somewhat of a swoosh shape or upward sloping L.  Economic activity will slowly return to a sense of normalcy as the curve of new COVID-19 cases flattens.

Government support and intervention will be needed, and stimulus will provide an economic backstop. We expect modest growth in 2021. Pent-up demand and continued economic stimulus should also help with rebound.

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Hyundai Launches Flagship EV, the IONIQ6

SOUTH KOREA REPORT
Akihiro Komuro
Akihiro Komuro

Hyundai Motor Company unveiled in July its flagship EV model, the IONIQ 6, that has a driving range of 6.2 kilometers per kilowatt-hour, a 20% increase over the current 5 model. The cruising range was also increased by 22% to 524 kilometers or 326 miles, (based on Korean government certification standards). Hyundai Motor claims that its EVs have the world’s highest level of electricity consumption efficiency.

The company called the IONIQ 6 “a ‘mobile personal studio,’ a space where you can rest and relax on your own. It offers a new experience that is different from existing EVs.”

In Korea, pre-orders will begin in late July, with shipments starting in September. Pricing will start at 55 million won (approximately 5.8 million yen), and sales are expected to reach 12,000 units by the end of the year. It will be released in Europe by the end of the year and in the US in the first half of 2023. Sales in Japan have not yet been decided. The newly announced “6” has a lighter body, and the cruising range has been extended by improving the energy-saving performance of the drive components and semiconductors.

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Sany MOTA Launches Battery Rental Business.

CHINA REPORT
Jack Hao
Jack Hao

The Sany Group has taken a major step in the electrification of the heavy truck market segment with the launch on Aug. 30, 2023, of Sany Magic Tower Energy Co., Ltd. The business plan includes battery sales, battery parts sales, new energy vehicle waste power battery recycling and cascade utilization, artificial intelligence basic software development, data processing and storage support services.

The blue ocean market of new energy heavy-duty trucks is about to experience explosive growth. “Blue ocean” refers to a business approach that focuses on creating a new, uncontested market space rather than competing in an existing market, which is often saturated and competitive. In a blue ocean, the competition is irrelevant because the brand or company is establishing a market where none existed before or is radically differentiating itself in an existing market.

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PM Launches Vehicle Scrappage Policy

Aditya Kondejkar

Vehicles will not just be scrapped by their age, but also if they are found to be unfit in automated testing. The vehicle scrappage policy will bring in investments of around INR 10,000 crore to set up 450-500 Automated Testing Stations (ATS) and 60-70 Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facilities (RVSF) across the country.

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PSR Analysis: Under the Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernization program (VVMP), the government plans to set up between 450-500 automated vehicle fitness testing stations across India on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis involving private firms and state governments. A total of 60-70 vehicle scrapping centers will also be built; these stations will be situated no further than 150-200 kilometers away from any location in India. A total of seven agencies – including Tata Motors – have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government today for this project. Tata Motors’ vehicle scrapping center will be set up in Gujarat, will scrap both passenger and commercial vehicles and will have the capacity to recycle up to 36,000 vehicles a year.

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KAMAZ Launches 720 hp Engine

RUSSIA REPORT

PowerTALK, January 2022

Maxim Sakov
Maxim Sakov

KAMAZ said it is installing new 6-cylinder engines working on methane gas and having 720 HP on its trucks. Switching to NG fuel is one of the main trends of the Russian automotive giant. It builds Inline 6 and V8 engines

Inline 6 cylinders engine will be made in several versions but the 720 hp will be available in the top model only. For the economy segment, the OEM will offer a 450 hp engine;  the price of this model will be significantly cheaper.     Read The Article

PSR Analysis: A few years ago, KAMAZ started developing new 6-cylinder inline engines in co-operation with Liebherr. The R&D now is program successfully expanding into a new stage, developing a new range of HHP NG-powered engines.    PSR

Maxim Sakov is Market Consultant – Russia Operations, for Power Systems Research