As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, LiuGong attended ConExpo-Con/AGG 2008 and announced its expansion into the North American market.

Hi-Way Equipment Company LLC, based in Houston and Beaumont, Texas, is the third of five dealers in the United States to be awarded a LiuGong Construction Machinery North America dealership.

Hi-Way Equipment has been meeting the equipment needs of contractors and municipalities in southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana including Beaumont, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Bryan, College Station, Victoria, Texas and Lake Charles, La., for 60 years.

Hi-Way has now added LiuGong wheel loaders to its lineup. Additionally, Hi-Way has the majority of all other LiuGong equipment, which are equipped with Cummins Tier III engines, Premco/Vickers hydraulic pumps, ZF transmissions and axles. The machines are offered in a range of sizes from 2 to 8 cu. yd. (1.8 to 7.3 cu m).

LiuGong’s U.S. headquarters are located in Houston, where it has opened a new 15,000-sq.-ft. warehouse and office facility.

Ron Hargrave has been named president of LiuGong Construction Machinery N.A. LLC.

“In my position as president of LiuGong Construction Machinery, I see an excellent opportunity for us to develop a vibrant and expanding LiuGong dealer network here in North America. The LiuGong company, while largely unknown in North America, is a very large and dynamic company. Dealers are always amazed to find out that LiuGong is the second largest producer of wheel loaders in the world,” said Hargrave.

Hargrave also pointed out that although LiuGong is one of the leading producers of wheel loaders in the world, its product line is long and diverse. He said the company also is offering or will be offering excavators, tractor loader backhoes, skid steers, compaction equipment, motorgraders, bulldozers and paving machines to the dealer network.

“The response from dealers has been excellent and we are in the process of signing up dealers at this point in time. This is a company that is on the move and coming out of China and into the world marketplace. This expansion is not just in North America. LiuGong is marketing into Europe, Africa, Russia, Australia and India,” Hargrave concluded.

LiuGong produced the first wheel loader manufactured in China in 1966. Its first articulated loader followed soon after in1968.

In April 2006 LiuGong had produced more than 100,000 wheel loaders, making it the second largest manufacturer of wheel loaders in the world. With an annual wheel loader production of 27,000 units, its volume represents more wheel loaders than the entire U.S. wheel loader market.

Along the way, such innovations as the world’s first high-altitude wheel loader and the G series helped make LiuGong an industry leader in China.

As a worldwide company, LiuGong has a strong sales and service network for providing support to its overseas clients. The network includes 34 overseas dealerships and three subsidiary companies (the North American company joins LiuGong Australia and LiuGong India).

An annual conference brings together clients, dealers and partners to continue to strengthen LiuGong’s products and services.

For more information on Hi-Way Equipment in Houston, call 713/649-0940.

For more information on Hi-Way Equipment in Beaumont, Texas, call 409/212-8100. CEG

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