Sydney, Australia, 28th February 2024 – With a long history as a leading supplier of excavators in Australia, 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, delivering legendary reliability and class-leading performance. Kobelco excavators are renowned for their best-in-class fuel consumption and lowest total cost of ownership, with the brand being recognised as a global leader in the construction equipment industry.
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. This short radius excavator delivers exceptional performance and operator comfort with its class-leading machine design,” says 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 exceptional performance and productivity, along 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.
Kobelco continues to improve and expand its offering in the 35 tonne class, and this year will be no exception, with the recent release of the SK380SRLC-7. This 38 tonne short radius machine is the heaviest and most capable short radius excavator in the industry. With the demand for larger and more capable machines on crowded urban jobsites, the release of the SK380SRLC-7 is the direct result of Kobelco’s promise to meet the needs of its customers—another example of the brand’s commitment to being an industry leading excavator manufacturer.
Kobelco excavators are backed up an expert network of independently owned and operated dealers around Australia. With factory trained technicians, the latest in diagnostic equipment, special tools, and a comprehensive range of Kobelco Genuine Parts on hand, Kobelco dealers have the experience and expertise to ensure every Kobelco customer has support when they need it.
“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 dealers genuinely care about their customers because they recognise that their customer’s success is integral to the success of their own businesses. The outstanding support that our dealers provide their customers is critical to Kobelco’s sales achievements.”
Kobelco dealers are backed by a strong commitment from Kobelco Australia to provide exceptional aftersales and parts support to its customers. 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 addition to Kobelco’s modern parts distribution centre in Sydney, Kobelco’s dedication to the Australasian market includes a modern head office in Sydney, training facilities in Melbourne, and a direct distribution dealer network in New Zealand. Kobelco’s team of specialists, including sales, service, parts, warranty support and a 24/7 call centre, keeps Kobelco machinery moving.
*PowerStats Construction Equipment Industry Australia sales statistics, full year 2023.
