Bobcat’s Pontchâteau plant has celebrated the production of its 20,000th telehandler.
The facility, which is located in Loire Atlantique, France, produces all Bobcat telehandlers sold on the global market.
Design, development, production, and sales orchestration are all conducted from the Pontchâteau command centre.
“We foresee growth of around 15% in sales and 17% in turnover this year compared to 2013,” commented Laurent Gicquel, plant manager at Pontchâteau.
“This growth is largely due to good results from the agricultural sector, which represents some 49% of Bobcat telehandler sales. The remaining 51% of our sales come from the rental and construction sectors and general industry,” he added.
The plant’s 200-strong workforce attended an official ceremony to mark the telehandler production milestone. Gicquel and his team were joined by Xavier Larroque, telehandler products manager for Bobcat.
This has been a record-breaking year for the compact equipment manufacturer. The millionth Bobcat loader rolled off the production line in July 2014. The company now intends to take advantage of the momentum built up by its French plant, with an array of investments to boost production at the Pontchâteau facility and to capitalise on the high levels of demand for its French-manufactured telehandlers.
“80% of our production is exported,” revealed Larroque.
“Apart from France, we have a strong presence in Eastern Europe, Germany, and the Middle East,” he added.
At present, the Pontchâteau plant produces 12 Bobcat telehandler models, with lifting heights ranging from 5m to 18m. The firm’s telehandler portfolio is to be expanded with the introduction of a new generation of machines, which will join the T40140 and T40180 units launched earlier this year.
