Doosan Bobcat

Doosan Bobcat Announces Its Global Brand Transition Strategy

Doosan Bobcat announced on March 24 it will transition its brand strategy by reorganizing the company’s brand portfolio by region, with emphasis on the North American and European markets.


This transition strategy will rebrand Doosan Industrial Vehicle’s material handling equipment, including forklifts; and Doosan Portable Power’s products, such as portable generators and light towers. Doosan Bobcat plans to apply the Bobcat brand to these products in regions where the Bobcat brand is well recognized.


Doosan Bobcat has successfully applied its Bobcat brand to new product lines in recent years, which has contributed to the company’s overall business growth.


Even with these transitions in select regions, the Doosan brand will maintain its presence in other regions where it has stronger brand recognition, such as the domestic market. For example, the Doosan brand will be retained for Doosan Industrial Vehicle’s material handling and forklift equipment in China, India and Southeast Asia.


"Re-establishing our brand strategy will enhance our brand power and increase efficiencies throughout our global operations. Doosan Bobcat will strengthen its competitiveness by carrying out sales strategies tailored to each region where the Doosan and Bobcat brands each have strengths," said an official of Doosan Bobcat.


Doosan Bobcat unveils its new Bobcat-branded portable power and material handling products at key trade shows in March and April.


The rebranded portable power products were shown at CONEXPO-CON/AGG in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. The rebranded material handling products were shown at ProMat 2023 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., and will be shown at LogiMAT in Germany in April. These rebranded machines will be available at a later date, with more information forthcoming.


Another booth highlight was the company’s newest hydrogen fuel cell-powered forklift concept. The hydrogen fuel cell forklift is under development with Plug (formerly Plug Power). As fuel cell forklifts have already been commercialized, especially in large logistics warehouses, many attendees showed their interest in the equipment.

2023-03-24

Doosan Bobcat showcases its latest electric equipment and autonomous technology at CONEXPO/CON-AGG 2023

Doosan Bobcat introduced its latest products and industry-leading technologies at the CONEXPO/CON-AGG 2023, which was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) on March 14-18.


CONEXPO, one of the world's top three construction equipment exhibitions, is held every three years in the United States. This year’s exhibition was held on the largest scale ever, with more than 1,800 exhibitors from around the world, with a floor area of about 260,000 square meters.


As in the automobile industry, autonomous and electric are the two hottest technologies in the construction equipment industry. Doosan Bobcat set up a booth of 2,043㎡ under the slogan ‘If you can dream it, Bobcat can build it,’ and exhibited its cutting-edge electric equipment and autonomous, digital technology that leads the industry.


In the 14th, Doosan Bobcat unveiled the ‘RogueX,’ a concept loader that embodies the future technology that the company aims to develop. The RogueX, an unmanned electric loader, attracted a lot of audiences with its innovative cab-less design.



Doosan Bobcat also unveiled a prototype of the world’s first all-electric skid-steer loader ‘S7X’. S7X is the company’s new all-electric loader, following the CES 2022 innovation award honoree T7X. Having invented the world's first skid-steer loader and created and dominated the compact equipment industry, Bobcat now reinvented skid-steer loaders with the S7X. The S7X has a maximum operation time of 8 hours, delivers superior performance compared to equivalent diesel-powered loaders, and is nearly silent.





The company also exhibited the E10e, E19e, and E32e, a series of 1 to 3-ton class electric excavator models that it originally introduced in the European market.


Doosan Bobcat also exhibited a number of its innovative digital features and technologies, such as MaxControl, a remote-control system that uses smartphone, Machine IQ, which uses a telematics system, and an intelligent control function, and a concept form of collision warning and avoidance system. A Doosan Bobcat official said, "We will expand our new product lineups and actively target the global market with industry-leading innovation."



On booth, Doosan Bobcat placed banners and aired a promotional video to support a successful attraction of the Busan Expo.

2023-03-14

Doosan Bobcat reports all-time high revenue and operating profit

Doosan Bobcat announced on the 8th that it recorded annual sales of KRW 8.6219 trillion (USD 6.674 billion) and operating profit of KRW 1.072 trillion (USD 829 million) based on consolidated financial statements last year. Increased by 48.2% and 80%, respectively (31% and 60% in dollar terms, respectively) from sales of KRW 5,816.2 billion (USD 5.082 billion) and operating profit of KRW 595.3 billion (USD 520 million) in 2021, the previous record high. Annual operating profit margin was 12.4%, up 2.2%p from the previous year.
Doosan Bobcat cited solid demand, steep growth of grounds maintenance equipment (GME), and full-year recognition of Doosan Industrial Vehicle which was acquired in July 2021 as the background for last year’s high performance.
In particular, the Doosan Bobcat business (excluding industrial vehicles) posted record sales last year, based on strong demand from major markets, with compact equipment and portable power grew by 20% and 24%, respectively, compared to the previous year (in dollar terms). Especially, GME grew by 51% in North America YoY and continued to grow at an average annual growth rate of 56% since 2019, when it first launched a compact tractor.
Industrial vehicle also had the best year since its foundation, reporting record revenue of 1.4 trillion won thanks to strong sales in the North American market, including increased volume of fleets to large rental companies. By region, the growth rate was 36% in North America, 13% in EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa), and 37% in ALAO (Asia, Latin America, Oceania).
In the fourth quarter of last year, sales increased by 35.3% to KRW 2,383.9 billion, and operating profit increased by 62.5% to KRW 250.8 billion. (Sales of USD 1,757 million, +17.4% YoY, and operating profit of 183 million, +40.2% YoY)
On this day, Doosan Bobcat presented sales of KRW 9,226.7 billion (USD 6.937 billion) and operating profit of KRW 897.6 billion (USD 675 million) as a guidance for 2023.
Meanwhile, Doosan Bobcat held a board meeting on the same day and decided to pay a final cash dividend of 750 won per common share. With the interim dividend of 600 won, the total annual dividend for the fiscal year of 2022 results in 1,350 won.

2023-02-08

Doosan Bobcat Rolls Out GME Products to the European Market

Doosan Bobcat's grounds maintenance equipment business is set to enter the European market far beyond its home turf in North America.
Doosan Bobcat announced on 2 February that nine models of its compact tractors are coming to the market in Europe. Its first compact tractors for Europe will be delivered to an Italian dealer who pre-ordered the equipment.
Doosan Bobcat entered the compact tractor market in North America in 2019 and launched its lawn mowers on the continent the following year. Despite being brand new product categories from Bobcat, the products have seen early success in the North American market thanks to Bobcat's strong brand power and product competitiveness, coupled with the growing number of hobby farmers in North America.
In line with the growing demand for GME in the U.S., Doosan Bobcat completed a U.S. $70 million expansion of its production plant in Statesville, North Carolina in October last year.
This year, Doosan Bobcat is expanding its GME efforts in the European market. Starting with compact tractors, a series of GME products including mowers, will be sequentially launched in Europe.
“Since the first compact tractor was introduced to the European market at the Bauma trade fair in Germany last October, more than 100 pre-orders have been received from Italy, the UK, Poland, Benelux, etc.,” said a Doosan Bobcat official, adding “Having posted more than U.S. $800 million in global GME sales last year, we aim to double our growth by 2027.”

2023-02-03

Doosan Bobcat Opens New US PDCs to Bolster its Aftermarket Competitiveness

Doosan Bobcat has opened additional parts distribution centers(PDCs) in key areas of North America to further strengthen its aftermarket competitiveness.
On January 27th, Doosan Bobcat announced that the company had opened a new PDC for construction equipment in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, just four months after opening its PDC in Reno, Nevada, USA, in September 2022.
Doosan Bobcat now has three PDC locations in the U.S., including Woodridge, Illinois in the Midwest, Reno in the west, and Atlanta in the southeast, increasing its total facility operation area 2.5 times from 33,000㎡ to 83,000㎡. With the addition of its regional bases, Doosan Bobcat is now able to provide improved services to its customers by securing ample inventory, extended ordering hours, shortened delivery times, and diversified delivery options.
PDCs supply both attachments and parts in the aftermarket. With more than 400 types of attachments—the largest variety in the industry—Doosan Bobcat posted sales of approximately KRW 1.6 trillion(1.3 billion dollars) in the AM/PS(aftermarket parts and service) sector last year – including sales of Bobcat, Portable Power, and Industrial Vehicle, an increase of 27% from the previous year. The aftermarket business is regarded as a stable business with steady sales and high profitability, as it is less cyclical.
Doosan Bobcat is currently supporting Bobcat equipment dealers and customers from seven PDCs located in Germany, the UAE, China, South Korea (Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do), and three regions in North America. Last year, Doosan Bobcat North America migrated its online parts purchasing site into the company's official website to improve customer access and convenience.
“With the opening of additional parts centers in the western and southeastern United States, we are now able to ship about 90% of our orders across North America within three days,” declared a spokesperson of Doosan Bobcat. “We will continue to strengthen our aftermarket business by expanding our revenue sources, with the goal of achieving sales of 2 trillion won by 2027.”

2023-01-27