KCMA Corporation, marketers of Kawasaki-KCM wheel loaders, announced that it is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery.
Since 2010, Hitachi Construction Machinery had owned 34 percent of KCM’s stock (the parent company of KCMA), when the two companies joined to share Tier IV emissions standards research and technology in the manufacture of Kawasaki wheel loaders. As part of that joint venture, Hitachi had the option of purchasing up to 100 percent of KCM’s stock after three years. On Oct. 1, 2015, Hitachi Construction Machinery became a 100-percent shareholder of KCM.
KCM continues to be manufacture wheel loaders under the Kawasaki--KCM brand in North America.
“We [KCM] will only be manufacturing wheel loaders, not the other Hitachi products,” said Gary Bell, vice president and general manager of KCMA. “As a result of Hitachi’s acquisition of KCM, contractors and our dealer network can expect a much more construction-focused company than before. Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the former owner of KCM, is a very diversified company that in addition to construction, also was involved with locomotives, robotics and hydraulics; and Hitachi Construction Machinery is exclusively a construction machinery manufacturer.”
With the KCM acquisition, Japan-based Hitachi Construction Machinery has more than doubled its wheel loader footprint, globally.
