Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and CNH Industrial have signed a 10-year strategic alliance pertaining to mini-excavator production.
Under the terms of the deal, Italy’s CNH Industrial will market four mini-excavator models supplied by HHI as complete units, and 10 mini-excavator models delivered as knock-down kits for licensed production.
The agreement will see sales of HHI compact excavators double during the course of the next decade, according to the South Korean manufacturer.
The original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have also agreed to jointly develop new units, and update existing models as part of the agreement.
Commenting on the deal, S G Rhee, chief operating officer of HHI’s Construction Equipment Division, said: “We have noticed that the global demand for the mini-excavator market has been more stable than the bigger-sized construction equipment, and we also expect that the demand [will continue] to increase for years to come.
“In view of the trend, we [came] to [the] conclusion that the alliance with CNH Industrial, which has multiple brands including Case Construction Equipment and New Holland Construction, will bring a win-win solution for both companies.
“Moreover, we believe that the partnership will surely lay a solid foundation for the compact and mini-sized construction machine business of HHI’s Construction Equipment Division,” he noted.
J C Jung, chief executive officer of HHI Europe, added: “This strategic alliance will result in an expansion of our Hyundai compact excavators product range; new models will be developed and existing models will be upgraded with additional options.
“Naturally, Hyundai dealers in Europe will benefit from this [agreement, which will help them] to grow their [businesses] and provide even better solutions to their customers,” he concluded.
