I would think the price of any of them in the US would be to the bottom. Parts would cost a bunch now. How bout Komatsu? Is there big tariffs on them?
made in Japan and the US. I doubt Komatsu would see much in the way of tariffs.
Komatsu excavators are made in Tennessee, at least that is what the salesman would have me to believe . . .
Big difference between made and assembled. This is what is about to kick the snot out of most US auto manufacturers as they ship a lot of parts that are made from scratch in various parts of the world to a cheaper labor site for final product assembly. NAFTA effectively allowed all these parts to flow back and forth across borders without tax or tariff but that may change now as each border crossing may increase the price. Who knows how this will all play out in the end for the US. I don't know anything about Komatsu hoes being made in the US, but I would strongly assume a lot of the parts are shipped in from the mother country while the frame and other big fabricated steel parts are built here with very skilled labor.
If the tariffs come the N. American auto industry is going to be a real mess. For example F series super duty engines are made in Canada and the trucks are made in the US. Many other parts go back and forth and some likely come from Mexico. Could there be double or triple tariffs, who knows. The crazy pricing vehicles already have is likely to get worse. Hopefully some industries will be spared from tariffs. As far as Komatsu and tariffs I thought Japan was mentioned at one point? It's kind of hard to keep track. Just have to wait and see.
I guess basically a fixed income retired person can't buy any metal now at all? It was way to high 5 years ago.
Interesting to see the Shantui name show up again. A local group tried to start a new dealership here in north Texas about 5 years ago.. They brought in 4, I think, brand new Shantui dozers. Looked like one of each size, but not sure. They did not sell here at all. The smallest one ended up with a local dirt contractor that I believe had something to do with starting the dealership. The others were moved back away from view, into some brush. They sat there rusting for about a year, and then disappeared. No, I think that cheap brand disappeared from America, for good. If still around somehere, the new tariffs should kill it off, for sure.
I actually think it is a joint Komatsu and China machine. Just thought I saw that in a video.
Maybe Shantui had no OEM financing and poor dealer and parts support.
A couple interesting bits of info on Shantui (from their website anyway): History-Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. www.shantui-global.com Started in 1952 and shipped it's 5,000th dozer in 1998. That's 5000 units in 46 years or averaging just over 100 units a year. Fast forward to 2012 and they shipped their 50,000th unit...or just over 3,200 units a year on average. Quite impressive jump in such a short time. ---------------- About Shantui-Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. www.shantui-global.com Quoted from the link: "Shantui is a state-owned shareholding listed company and a subsidiary of Shandong Heavy Industry Group. Shantui is among the Top 50 global construction machinery manufacturers and Top 500 manufacturing companies in China." This is typical of a lot of Asian manufacturing based economies where the country is reinvesting a lot of the money it receives from consumer based economies (like the US) who purchase goods made in the Asian country. When the Asian, or Chinese, government reinvests money back into it's manufacturing economy, it's able to pump out more goods at a faster and cheaper capability than it's competitors (other Asian and western world economies) which drives more purchases as consumer countries keep buying. This becomes a vicious cycle where competing countries who used to be manufacturing champions (like the US) can't afford to compete anymore and begin to shutdown US manufacturing and move it over to China. This only makes the downward spiral faster. Adding a tariff to these foreign goods makes these goods less attractive from a domestic purchasing standpoint. So at least that explains the basic reasoning for why the current administration is using tariffs to dissuade both foreign companies and domestic purchasers from buying goods produced overseas. The administrations wants US purchasers to purchase US made goods so it rebuilds and strengthens our economy. Whether or not this will work is waaaaaaayyyy beyond my comprehension. ------------ Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.: Shareholders, Shareholding Structure - MarketScreener Find the distribution by types of shareholders of Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. listed on the Shenzhen S.E. stock exchange. Discover the geographical origin of the shareholders of Shantui Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.. www.marketscreener.com As of today, the Chinese government owns about 17% of Shantui and is the second largest shareholder. In my opinion, that's a lot of government ownership, but it's also not surprising as the Chinese government effectively owns/controls about 25% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State-owned_enterprises_of_China ------------ Bottom line: I think Shantui will continue to be a major manufacturer in the dozer market...but those units will probably stay local to China or be exported to select areas (not the US or most Western countries). Will US tariffs change this drastically? Not sure as the tariffs will make Shantui less attractive to US buyers but the same tariffs may make Shantui more attractive to non-US western buyers like Europe as they slug out a tariff war with the US. And like Dave said, the North American auto companies will be impacted by tariffs way, way more than a company like Shantui. It may be a rough ride for all of us, north and south of the border, for a few years as the economies find a new equilibrium. Anyway, probably a lot of obvious info on tariffs and why we're in this mess right now. Either way I better get to focusing on real work (the kind that pays the bills) but appreciate all the insights on this area.
A local dealership was selling Daewoo for awhile. Engine sounded nice and quiet, a walk around showed decent looking construction.
Daewoo, is now Doosan and is a South Korean company, At least they aren't under the CCP umbrella That's a good thing.
Doosan has changed the name to "Develon" for some reason.
I've been on dump truck duty hauling spoils off our current job and pass the Develon dealer. Small local dealer with 15-20 excavators, 15-20 mini's, a few artics and a couple of dozers. The little dozers look interesting. Does Doosan still own Bobcat?
Yes, as far as I can tell, they do.
Interesting, So Develon is a subsidiary of Hyundai Heavy Inds.? Or was this a breakaway from HHI? "Work began to identify a new brand name to replace Doosan following the August 2021 sale of Doosan Infracore to HD Hyundai (formerly Hyundai Heavy Industries Holdings Co. HHIH). The name DEVELON was chosen to convey the company’s drive to develop onward to bring innovative solutions to the construction equipment industry through technological transformation and the development of exceptional equipment and services."
Yup, when I hear DEVELON, that is exactly, word for word, going through my mind. I love corporate execs when they rename a company...
I bet they were mostly trying to sound less Asian . . .
Yeah, probably so. But that's not always a good thing. Maybe trying to sound less Chinese I understand but there also are so many Korean and Japanese brands that represent high quality I think it may work against them to sounds less Korean.
I remember seeing their outdoor booth at Conexpo 2023 and wondering who the hell are they. At the time had no clue it was renamed Doosan.
Komatsu builds many if not all their US market excavators in Chattanooga TN. You can tell from the serial number if it’s US built if there is an “A” at the beginning.
I just ran across Develon. What a stupid name change. Doosan (and Daewoo before) was a respected brand worldwide. Now they change names and nobody has ever heard of them. My first thought was it was some other crap Chinese import. They definitely damaged the resale market. Having to convince people that it's really a Doosan doesn't sound like an easy sell. This would be akin to Pepsi selling out to Dr. Pepper and rebranding to Droda by combining the words Drink and Soda.