Hitachi Construction Machinery Americas focused on wheel loaders up until the end of February. But then the John Deere-Hitachi joint venture for excavators dissolved. It now finds itself managing an excavator product line and a mining division out of its headquarters in Newnan, Georgia.
The company’s accomplishments since March 1 have included a new parts distribution center, more than tripling its staff, signing up 12 North American dealer organizations, and launching its first three Hitachi-built excavators.
The first three excavators include the ZX50U-5N and ZX26U-5N compacts, and the 164-horsepower ZX210LC-6. The compacts are in categories with high demand, and are basically the same as their Deere predecessors, says product manager Rob Orlowski, director, product management & engineering.
The 50,265-pound ZX210LC-6 is the first Hitachi-built machine that differentiates itself from the JV models, he says. First among those is the new Trias II hydraulic system, which uses three pumps rather than two, to supply optimal amounts of pressurized oil to each actuator. It also has Hitachi’s ConSite telematics package—free and transferable for the life of the machine. The ZX210LC-6 includes new oil-monitoring technology called ConSite Oil that monitors hydraulic oil.
The unit has a 14-percent heavier counterweight, which increases lifting capacity by up to 10 percent, Orlowski says, and a heavy-duty boom is now standard.
Dealers coming on board
HCMA has signed up 12 dealer organizations with the goal of adding 13 more by early 2023, says Simon Wilson, VP, sales. This will give HCMA full coverage of the United States and Canada. Some of the dealers had been Hitachi wheel loader dealers, some are multiline, but all of them contacted HCMA to sign up, Wilson says.
The company has grown from 50 to 175 employees, Wilson says, with more to be hired. He said the company has received almost 3,000 high-quality applicants.
In December, the company took ownership of a parts warehouse outside of Atlanta. In spite of a delay in receiving parts shelving, it was able to stock and open the facility March 1.
Both Wilson and Orlowski cited the excitement within the organization not only for what has been accomplished in such a short time, but also for what the next year will hold. A range of new products will be rolled out over the remainder of 2022, Orlowski says, culminating at its exhibits at Conexpo 2023 in Las Vegas.
