Hitachi Construction Machinery Dissolves Joint Venture With John Deere

Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM) and Deere have announced plans to dissolve their joint venture in the Americas. The dissolution will be completed Feb. 28, 2022. At the same time, HCM is announcing that HCMA will assume all product and service operations for the Americas in spring 2022. HCMA will continue to be a wholly owned subsidiary of the Hitachi Construction Machinery Group. HCMA is planning to add more than 60 new local positions to strengthen its North American headquarters in Newnan, Ga. Masaaki Hirose, chairman and HCM executive officer, will continue to be responsible for HCMA. Alan Quinn, who currently serves as CEO, will continue in the same role. "HCM, through HCMA, will be able to better determine its own destiny in the Americas with its own business strategies, improved products and services, and updated technologies, all provided through a revamped and strengthened distribution network," Quinn said. Beginning spring of 2022, HCMA will introduce new equipment to the Americas with cutting-edge technologies that increase efficiency and safety while lowering total cost of ownership, the company said. It plans to differentiate itself through the product capabilities of these new machines, including the latest in hydraulic systems, innovative "uptime" and IoT services and advanced safety features. It also will assess the potential for completely new products that meet the needs of the Americas markets. HCMA will be able to structure its business to respond to market changes and fulfill the evolving needs of equipment owners and operators. In construction, price competition for new machinery from emerging countries is intensifying and demands for improvement in safety and efficiency on job sites are becoming stricter. In mining, competition for hydraulic excavators and dump trucks used in mines has intensified as the global trend to reduce CO2 through automation, unmanned and electrification has increased. In after-sales service, the development of "uptime" services is also growing. "HCM has been improving and investing in business strategies since 2017 to prepare for the creation of HCMA," Quinn said. "This includes many ‘value chain' initiatives to bolster parts and service, rental, used equipment, remanufactured parts and financing. It has also been improving technologies in analytics, IoT, telematics, fleet management and uptime services. In the future, HCMA will be able to better utilize these advances to capture more market share." In the short term, all wheel loaders, excavators and mining equipment will be manufactured in Japan. HCM and HCMA will continue to evaluate this supply structure for the future to evaluate the possibilities for production in the Americas. Future Growth One of HCMA's main strategies will be to increase the usage of ConSite globally. The company will extend the service to new Hitachi brand excavators and continue to expand its use in mining. The goal is to increase the use of telematics and predictive analytics to increase uptime on the job site. HCMA's other goals include: Strengthen its regional headquarters in the Americas Formulate new market strategies Rebuild and strengthen its distribution network in North America Respond to increased demand from mining and civil engineering for safer equipment that is more productive and reduces total lifecycle costs Promote sustainable initiatives for manufacturing, construction and mining; reduce dependence on coal-related businesses, reduce CO2 emissions Continue to aggressively expand into mining, particularly in Latin America Steadily establish parts service bases Expand rental and used equipment businesses "We are very excited to begin this new chapter as HCMA," Quinn said. "We have an ambitious plan for the future, and we are focused on dynamically responding to the needs of our customers and the quickly changing nature of the equipment market."