Found this today: http://www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=69901&navigation=Overdrive_weekly_update
I wouldn't mind owning a cat truck
Emission requirements are changing to fast, I don't blame them. They just finished developing Acert tier 3 technology only to have tier 4 thrown at them
One could say that they are not really leaving the market, merely changing their focus. One only has to look at Cat's entry into the ag market to see how they do this. There, they not only produce tractors, but combines and all sorts of other products where just a few short years ago, they had nothing other than the Challengers. Of course, Cat started in farming, so this was a return to their roots you might say. Global economic and manufacturing pressure is forcing some firms to looks at strategic alliances they never would have considered a couple of years ago. I would not be the least bit surprised to see other truck manufacturers merge or be bought outright by other firms in the industry or perhaps Hyundai or Komatsu. The Germans already own Freightliner and own the largest share of KW dealerships in America. The French own Mack. Navistar (International they will always be to me) recently bought the majority share of GM's larger truck production. I believe Ford will be bought out soon by a foreign manufacturer, possibly by Tata of India, to whom they just sold a couple of divisions. So, in a sense, we are witnessing history in the making as markets for these vehicles change nearly overnight now. DPete is right I think, that emissions are a part of this, but fuel costs and changing market patterns overseas are also pushing things along. We are living in interesting times.
Actually, Cat is not really in the Ag equipment market anymore. There tracked tractor line has been sold to AGCO and sold as Challenger tractors. Their combines are made by Claas in Germany and sold as Cat Lexion combines. Cat just handles the sales and service for the combines and tractors.
Sounds like they are still in the market. If it looks like a Cat and Cat handles the sales and service -- well you know the old saying -- if it looks like a duck...........
As soon as all our car companies sell out to other nations our economy will only get worse and probably fail.
Newbie it's a big world out there. Years ago you bought your John Deere parts at your local cat dealer.
I believe their telehandlers are made by JLG if I remember correctly.
Cat did not sell the there ag line, they only sold the licensing of the Challenger brand and rights of production. Everyone knowledgeable i have heard from has said that Cat is still very active in the design and direction of the Challenger brand. The MT900 series is AGCO's only big artic, has all kinds of Cat parts in it. Cat was clearly involved in the design of the tractor, more so than any since they transition to AGCO production. It's no suprise to me that Cat is once again taking interest in the ag market, seems like it's the only market big iron is still selling. There is a waiting list for just about every brand out there right now. Also there are two "Cat" combines; the Challenger(Massey/Gleaner with C9 or C13) combine and the "Cat" Lexion combine. The 500 series Lexion is custom built for NA farming conditions, the 600 series is sold in most other parts of the world. The most obvious difference is the Cat engine instead of Mercedes, but there are many others to better suit NA crop conditions.
Cat learned a valuable lesson years ago when they bought out the remaining share of CMI, whom they had just talked into purchasing Raygo. They sorta started out by sticking Cat parts into the old Raygo compactors without much thought beyond the mounting details. Even that was flawed. The early "Catgo's" were a disaster and quickly fell apart or broke down. We nearly burned one up in Maryland because the fuel lines were not properly engineered nor secured. Cat found that when taking over another line of equipment or completing an acquisition, they had to look hard at the engineering and design of the new machines BEFORE they went into production and sale. Careful attention to detail had to be made so that inferior machines did not get into the marketplace. Thus you see better units coming from Cat today, and they do pay a lot of attention to machines coming from other producers with Cat paint and logo. Cat ran into this when they started having Mitsubishi build their excavators too. This isn't to say that Cat still doesn't miss the boat once in a while.
Did Cat sell CMI to Terex? BTW - Welcome back surfer-joe.
Geeez, I can't stay up with corporate purchases and disposals these days, not being in the actual business anymore. Seems like everyone owns a piece of everyone else. If one becomes a real player they get bought and sold like old dobbin, or if they become a loser, whoops -- off they go..... CMI got tossed around like a bag of potatoes for a while, Cat took what they wanted and tossed the rest, don't know who wound up with it. If Terex I'm not surprised, they've bought every loser in the marketplace the last several years and somehow keep afloat financially. Starting to see more and more Terex stuff around, cranes, artics, etc. Volvo is the same way, buy some junk outfit, spend a kazillion bucks in engineering and production upgrades and wham, you got a winner with Volvo stickers on it.
Not according to Diesel Progress in 2001 :nono The reason that Caterpillar (the manufacturer) dropped the ag sector like a hot potatoe was because they could never stop bleeding red on the books. So they sold their Challenger name, track tractors and dealer distribution to a company that could never be looked at more than a "value" brand and they started producing tractors with a "Cat" sticker on the side because they had Caterpillar engines. All of a sudden because people didn't know any better all of their local dealers became full line agriculture equipment suppliers selling all of this great "Cat" equipment because.....well it said C.A.T. on the side. No one bothers to look at the serial number plate to see that it says Agco Corp, Duluth GA. ointhead
Does this mean that all of the companies that ran the C7 in there on-road trucks will offer a MaxxForce with a different sticker on it? I haven't been able to get a definate answer out of anyone, and the CAT dealers that buy my equipment are sweating over what chassis they can put it on. Pete and Kenworth only run the PACCAR PX-8's now and Ford is the only distributor to still offer the CAT engine, but after 2010, will Ford only run the Cummins? If anyone has any information, it would be appreciated.