Hyundai Construction Equipment (HCE) made the announcement this week that it expects to build 2,200 mini-excavators for CNH (Case New Holland) in a deal worth $449 million (€385.89 million). The agreement will last until 2021, according to reports in Construction Equipment.
After separating from Hyundai Heavy Industries earlier in the year, this move is seen as part of the company’s efforts to expand its global reach.
A similar deal had previously been arranged between CNH and Hyundai Heavy Industries last September, prior to the separation.
HCE stated that it is looking to increase its sales volume in North America by 40% and push up sales in Oceania by 45%.
The company aims to take top spot in its home market this year, according to the firm itself. This will be done by expanding new product lines of mini excavators, which have proven to be “very successful” with an annual average growth rate of 13% for the past five years.
The manufacturer will also expand the application of Hi-Mate 2.0, HCE’s mobile control system, into a variety of its products.
Hyundai Construction President, Kong Ki-young, talked about the company’s ambitions, stating: “In an effort to further our technology development sector, as well as further develop our excavator sales line-ups and strengthen the reliability of our evaluation centres, we plan to invest 660 billion won [€504.5 million] by 2021.” 
Elaborating, the president said that the move was “to ensure that our company’s performance, quality and services are recognized as having the highest quality, not only in emerging markets but also in advanced markets”.
Through this, we will make an effort to become one of the world’s top five (construction equipment companies) by having our sales reach 7 trillion won [€767 million] by 2023.
About Hyundai Construction Equipment
HCE was founded in 1985 as a division of Hyundai Heavy Industries. The company now manufactures construction equipment including wheel loaders, backhoe loaders, skid-steer loaders and hydraulic excavators, as well as industrial vehicles.
Traditionally, the division ran nine global operation centres in Europe, the United States, Brazil, India, Indonesia and China.
In April of this year, Hyundai Heavy Industries was officially split into four companies, with HCE being one of the four.
The move came about in an effort to restructure following heavy losses in 2015, according to Reuters.
