Building on a big year

SAVANNAH, Ga. – While it’s coming off a record year in North America, JCB still has a way to go when breaking into the landscaping market, company executives said during a media event yesterday at the company’s North America headquarters.

Both Arjun Mirdha, president and CEO North America, and Keith Hoskins, vice president of compact products, said they would like to increase awareness of JCB in the landscaping market.

When asked how he thought JCB factored into the landscape market, Hoskins said, “Not well enough.”

Hoskins said he’d like to receive more direct feedback from contractors about what features they want on their equipment. He also said the company will invite local contractors to the JCB headquarters to drive the company’s equipment.

“We hope to have a more dedicated focus (on landscapers,)” he said.

Breaking records. JCB North America increased its sales in 2014 23 percent compared to 2013, marking it the company’s fifth consecutive year of growth. During the past four years, JCB North America has achieved 193 percent growth.

“JCB will be the brand to watch in 2015 and beyond,” Mirdha said. “Investing in our facility in Georgia is a cornerstone of future growth.”

The company has increased its field sales and service staffs, while also adding factory jobs. JCB also expanded its warehouse distribution, most recently doubling the size of its Canadian facility and later adding a new Chicago warehouse which has more than doubled JCB’s total warehouse footprint.

In addition to those investments, the company also has big plans for its dealer network.

JCB now has more than 300 North American locations with a growing number of independent, dedicated construction and agricultural equipment dealerships. The company plans to have 500 distribution outlets in place by 2018.

New iron. The company has invested in a number of its compact equipment lines. Those upgrades and new products were unveiled during the media event, which was highlighted by the introduction of company’s largest compact excavator, and Tier 4 updated skid-steers and tractor backhoe loaders.

“Over the past four years, we’ve invested over $60 million dollars to revamp our skid-steer and compact track loader product lines,” Mirdha said.

The new products introduced included:

• The 67C-1 compact excavator. The excavator is a 6.7 metric ton conventional tail-swing machine. Key features include Tier 4 Final engine with no DPF, 30 degree tilting cab, 500 hour greasing intervals, 100 percent steel bodywork and a JCB ‘2 Go System.’
• The 8.5 metric ton compact excavator 86C-1 conventional tailswing model and the 85Z-1 zero tailswing model. The 86C-1 and 85Z-1 launch a completely new look for JCB compact excavators with a revised H-design undercarriage, steel body panels, a more spacious operator environment and Tier 4 Final engines that deliver increased efficiency and lower operating costs. The 8.5 metric ton compact excavators are powered by all-new JCB Diesel by Kohler engines, delivering 64 hp (48kW). The JCB compact excavator cab, which is now built in-house, delivers 6 percent more space and 11 percent more visibility than previous machines.
• JCB announced it is adopting a range of fuel-efficient Stage IIIB/Tier 4 Final engines from Kohler’s Global Power Group for many of its compact machine lines. The water-cooled Kohler Direct Injection (KDI) engines are branded JCB Diesel by Kohler and meet the latest stage of emissions regulations without the need for a diesel particulate filter. The first JCB machines to be fitted with the new engine are skid-steers and compact excavators.
• For backhoes, JCB is also now Tier 4 Final compliant. Through development of its own award-winning range of Ecomax diesel engines, JCB has achieved the Tier 4 Final emissions standard without the need for a bulky DPF, reducing cost and complexity for the customer.