As a leading supplier of excavators in Australia and New Zealand, Kobelco Construction Machinery Australia has recently been recognised as the top supplier of heavy excavators in Australia by sales volume, selling more heavy excavator units than any other brand in 2023*.
“Achieving the number one position for sales of heavy excavators in Australia is a significant milestone for Kobelco. It has been a journey of market share growth over the past five years to achieve this,” explains Kobelco Australia’s Managing Director, Paul Torrington.
“As a construction machinery brand that focuses solely on excavators, Kobelco strives to innovate and deliver excavators that lead the market in quality, performance, durability, and efficiency while exceeding the expectations of our customers. Those efforts have resulted in 80% of Kobelco sales being attributable to repeat buyers, or as referrals from existing customers.”
For over 90 years, Kobelco has been manufacturing high-quality Japanese excavators.
The Kobelco heavy excavator portfolio in Australia ranges in size from 8- and 14-tonne short radius models suitable for crowded urban jobsites, to production class 38-, 52- and 85-tonne large excavators suitable for heavy-duty excavation projects and quarry applications, as well as a range of speciality excavators designed for demolition and dismantling applications. The heavy excavator market in Australia includes these Kobelco classes, and all excavator sizes up to and including mining class machines over 800 tonnes. Considering all of these size classes, Kobelco’s total unit sales volume exceeded all other brands in 2023.
“We have seen strong sales in the 14-tonne class, with nearly one in three machines sold in this class last year in Australia being a Kobelco. The flagship model in this size class is clearly the Kobelco SK135SR-7, which was the number one selling heavy excavator model in Australia in 2023,” says Mr Torrington.
“Another significant growth area for Kobelco has been in the 35- and 50-tonne model line-up. The Kobelco SK380XD and SK500XD extreme duty models have delivered on the promise of durability in harsh environments with the lowest fuel consumption in their respective size classes.”
With engines that do not require AdBlue or DPF maintenance, XD Series excavators have proven to deliver the lowest possible total cost of ownership—key to their market acceptance and sales success, he adds.
Kobelco excavators are backed up by an expert network of independently owned and operated dealers. Factory-trained technicians have the latest in diagnostic equipment, special tools, and a comprehensive range of Kobelco Genuine Parts on hand
“We couldn’t have accomplished our top market share result without the commitment and dedication of our Kobelco dealer network. Kobelco dealerships are well established, independently owned family businesses, where the dealer principal plays an active role in the day-to-day activities of the business—it’s the classic story of ‘the man that owns the business, runs the business’. Kobelco’s central parts distribution centre in Sydney holds over one million parts in stock, with next day delivery on offer to capital cities.”
In New Zealand, MIMICO has been appointed as the service agent for Kobelco excavators for all areas currently serviced by MIMICO, with the exception of the Auckland area, which will be serviced directly by the new Kobelco head office facility at Takanini.
*PowerStats Construction Equipment Industry Australia sales statistics, full year 2023.
