EARTHMOVING
IN WITH THE NEW HITACHI
HITACHI CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY AMERICAS IS BUILDING EQUIPMENT AND A COMPANY CULTURE BY ARTURO SANTIAGO, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
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itachi Construction Machinery Americas (HCMA) began a new era when it recently unveiled the first three Hitachi-built excavators on a hot, muggy day in Pine Mountain, Georgia. The introduction of the ZX210LC-6 HP excavator and the ZX26U-5N and ZX50U-5N mini excavators, all bearing the Hitachi brand, is the first of many steps HCMA is taking after ending its sales and marketing agreement with John Deere Construction & Forestry last summer. “We call it almost a baby step because there are many steps still left to go,” says HCMA Vice President of Sales Simon Wilson. “For us, it’s just a cool time to now be able to talk about these products and really show that we have configured them to what the customers have told us they want. We want to be able to show them that we’ve listened and did what we said we were going to do when we met with them not long ago.” More product offerings are also on the horizon – several new mining products are in the stable and ready for release, including
ZX50U-5N COMPACT EXCAVATOR
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larger shovels and haul trucks. Leading up to this new chapter, in 1988 Hitachi and John Deere started the Deere-Hitachi manufacturing joint venture to produce excavators in Kernersville, North Carolina, that were sold under both the Hitachi and Deere brands. The two companies combined their marketing and distribution efforts in the Americas in 2001. This lasted until 2021 when it was announced that this marketing and distribution agreement would be dissolved in March 2022. Moving forward, Hitachi and Deere will enter into new licensing and supply agreements, which will enable Deere to continue to source, manufacture, and distribute the current lineup of Deere-branded excavators in the Americas. Also as a result of this agreement, there were three Hitachi-Deere joint-venture factories in Kernersville, North Carolina; Indaiatuba, Brazil; and Langley, British Columbia, that Deere acquired and from which it will produce its own excavator lines. This leaves Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas with control of its own products and services, business strategies, and developing technologies, using a revamped distribution network. HCMA is currently in the process of converting its manufacturing facility in Newnan, Georgia, into a new regional headquarters that will support corporate offices for Latin America and North America as well as a customer centre and training and learning centre for end-use customers and dealerships. The headquarters will be approximately half a million square feet under one roof. Wilson adds, “When a customer or somebody comes and visits, they’ll really see the power of Hitachi and, as a regional headquarters, it’s important for us to have that central destination for the Western hemisphere.” From this point on, all Hitachi products will be sourced from Japan. Manufacturing facilities that have supplied components, kits, or complete machines will now support HCMA in the Americas. That may not be a permanent arrangement as Hitachi continues to evaluate what it determines what the “correct”
