View Full May PDF Issue - Utility Contractor Online

GROUNDBREAKING NEWS
Taking It to the Next Level
Caterpillar and Navistar Extended Alliance
to Joint Venture
From days of long ago (last July) comes the alliance of
two legends — Caterpillar Inc. and Navistar International
Corp. The alliance originally was focused on developing
mid-range engines for diesel applications, but the next
step in the partnership comes in the form of vocational
trucks in North America. The definitive agreement is to
produce Caterpillar heavy-duty vocational trucks for sale
in North America only and form a 50/50 joint venture that
will pursue global commercial truck opportunities outside
of North America.
The new Caterpillar trucks will be co-developed by Caterpillar
and Navistar and manufactured in Navistar’s Garland,
Texas, facility. The trucks will be sold and serviced
through the Caterpillar North American Dealer network.
“The heavy-duty vocational trucks will be purpose-built
to complement Caterpillar’s existing product line and will
give Caterpillar dealers an unmatched ability to support
customer needs from extraction through delivery,” said
George Taylor, Director and General Manager of the Caterpillar
Global On-Highway Department.
The Caterpillar trucks will feature key Caterpillar
proprietary components and technology and will target
customers who operate in a wide variety of vocational
applications such as earth moving, quarry, waste, mining,
general and heavy construction, logging and road
construction.
The new Caterpillar on-highway vocational trucks will be
unveiled in late 2010 and will go into full production in early
2011. The trucks will be sold and serviced exclusively by Caterpillar
Dealers in North America. The transaction is subject
to various closing conditions, including the execution of the
related strategic alliance agreement and certain other ancillary
agreements.
Records Made to Be Broken
Iron Planet Sets New Standard in Used Equipment Sales
In today’s turbulent economy, used
equipment sales are booming. While some
equipment sellers are closing their doors,
Iron Planet — an online auction company
for used construction and agriculture
equipment — has shattered the record for
single-day auction sales. It held its largest
single-day auction on Jan. 29, with
$20.88 million worth of equipment sold.
This represents a 10 percent increase over
the company’s previous single-day record
of $18.97 million, set on Jan. 31, 2008.
“We’re extremely pleased with the
results we saw in our January 29 auction,”
said Gregory J. Owens, Chairman
10 Utility Contractor | May 2009
Not satisfied with cranking out engines, Cat and Navistar
have agreed to produce Caterpillar heavy-duty vocational
trucks for sale in North America.
“This is an important milestone and Caterpillar looks forward
to becoming a significant player in the global on-highway
truck market,” said Caterpillar Chairman and CEO Jim
Owens. “Additionally, the introduction of a Cat vocational
truck line in North America represents an exciting opportunity
for Caterpillar and the Caterpillar dealer network to
extend our reach in this market and offer customers a total
jobsite solution.”
The 50/50 joint venture will develop, manufacture and
distribute commercial trucks in regions outside of North
America and India. Markets for the joint venture products
will be assessed individually with initial focus being Australia,
Brazil, China, Russia, South Africa and Turkey. It is
anticipated that the portfolio of products will feature both
aero nose and cab-over designs and will be sold under
both the Caterpillar and International brands. The first
products are expected to be available as early as the third
quarter of 2009.
and CEO of IronPlanet. “In spite of the
challenging market environment, the results
of the recent auction clearly demonstrate
that sellers of used equipment
are increasingly turning to Iron Planet to
market and sell their equipment to our
global marketplace of buyers. Iron Planet
continues to prove that our price performance
and lower cost to sell offers more
compelling value in terms of how sellers
move their equipment versus traditional
auction channels.”
More than 15,000 visitors from 147
countries participated in the auction,
which featured more than 750 lots located
in 30 states. Twenty percent of the
equipment sold at auction went to international
buyers located in Latin America,
Europe and the Middle East.
“2009 will be a significant year for Iron
Planet as our international expansion initiatives
are well underway with our global
auction marketplace operational with
online auctions now being conducted in
North America, Europe and Australia.
Customers around the world are turning
to Iron Planet as a faster and more profitable
way to buy and sell used equipment,”
said Owens. For more information,
visit www.ironplanet.com.