4 March 2014, 00:00
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA – March 4th, 2013 – LiuGong, a global leader in manufacturing a full line of extreme duty equipment, captured the good times of a booming Chinese market and then weathered the industry downturns - The global construction machinery market witnessed its most difficult period from 2011 to 2013; while China’s construction equipment market has also been in a difficult situation.
However, the company remains confident and has stuck to their global market strategy with smart thinking and a long-term plan. As a result, the company has steadily grown from a local factory in a small city in China’s southwest region to the 20th largest construction equipment manufacturer in the world. And the company’s $580 million market outside China has already accounted for nearly 30 percent of their total sales revenue. In spite of continuous challenges and tough market conditions, LiuGong realized a 9.95% net profit increase in 2013 compared with the previous year.
Mr. Zeng Guang’an, Chairman of Guangxi LiuGong Machinery Co., Ltd. and President of Guangxi LiuGong Group Co., Ltd., attributes LiuGong’s rise to the company’s bigger global vision, confidence and commitment.
“Our global vision of becoming a world-class company in the construction machinery industry guides our people to work harder and bring their talents into play in the broad global arena”, said Mr. Zeng Guang’an during ConExpo, “Our commitment to research & development, to providing a full line of extreme duty, intuitive machines and providing service and parts to our many global customers has lead to the global rise of LiuGong.”
Talking about the tough situation in CE industry, Mr. Zeng added, “It is because we understand construction equipment is a cyclical industry that we always remain constant and confident. Consequently, we are working hard on improving the quality of our distribution network, concentrating on our service and support offerings, even in the tough times.”
It is true that these are not the only areas the company is making a priority.
In 2013, LiuGong opened a new 33,000m2 global parts center in China and laid the foundation stone of the 110,000m2 state of the art international R&D center, including 20,000m2 of R&D offices, a testing center and testing field.
Continued investment in R&D and after-sales market is the smart move to provide better service and support to the customers. And the cooperation with world-class partners is another solid strategy. It provides LiuGong with a unique competitive advantage both in China and around the world. And conversely, LiuGong offers extensive support to their partners with their resources in research and development, marketing and service support.
In 2013, LiuGong’s joint venture with Cummins made its official start of operations in Liuzhou and the company held a celebration for the completion of the first prototype JV axle, the AP3000, with ZF.
And subsequently last June, LiuGong set up a new joint venture with Wuling Group, a General Motors supplier, to produce cabs and sheet metal components for LiuGong machines.
The same business synergy has been formed with Dressta. After the acquisition, the company has built up a stronger LiuGong and Dressta dealer network. The Dressta product line is an integral part of LiuGong’s product line and it is a critical part of their value proposition to dealers and the market as a full line OEM supplier.
The business performance justifies LiuGong’s confidence and their efforts have paid off.
LiuGong North America closed the year with a record-breaking month in last December in the North American market. This achievement brought about a record 4th quarter for the company making 2013 the most profitable year, having over 150% year over year revenue growth for 2013, with four consecutive profitable quarters since North American operations began in 2008.
“We combined three separate entities in 2013 - LiuGong CE (Construction Equipment); Dressta North America; and LiuGong FL (Forklifts) - all of which had not been profitable as separate entities. Through capitalizing on economies of scale, training of cross functional teams, increased hiring of industry professionals, and an expanding dealer network, LiuGong North America was not only profitable for the year, but profitable for every quarter!” stated Marc Dowdell, President of LiuGong North America. “It is an important step in our becoming a major OEM in North America as well as providing a return for stake holders. We continue to make capital investment in LGNA and our all-important dealer network—providing an expanded product line, floor plan financing, and what we believe is the best complete machine warranty in the market.”
And just a week ago, LiuGong North America, headquartered in Katy, Texas, moved to a larger interim facility to support its expanding dealer network.
“Building a time-honored enterprise is the historical responsibility and mission that the times endow us. This also applies to our operation in the North America market and any other market in the world. We are committed to this market and providing our customers the machines and service that they need. We have determination and confidence that we can meet the challenges here and achieve great results in this market”, Mr. Zeng Guang’an concluded LiuGong’s confidence and its future commitment to the industry.
Source: Branding and Communications