Construction Equipment Sales Grew 25% Worldwide in 2011

Sales of construction equipment by the world's 50 largest manufacturers grew 25 percent last year to $182 billion, according to the annual Yellow Table survey by KHL Group. This was a record for the industry, surpassing the previous high of $168 billion, set in 2008, prior to the global financial crisis.

The Yellow Table, which is a ranking of the world's 50 largest construction equipment manufacturers, saw relatively few changes at the top of the table, with the industry's long-standing number one and number two, US-based Caterpillar and Japan's Komatsu, continuing to hold the positions they have had for well over a decade.

Climbers inside the top ten include Sweden's Volvo Construction Equipment, U.S.-based Terex and John Deere, and China's Sany and Zoomlion. These gains came at the expense of Hitachi Construction Machinery (although its revenues were within 0.5 percent of Volvo, the company directly above it) and South Korean Doosan Infracore. China-based XCMG fell out of the top ten, having sat in tenth place for two years.

Across the top 50, US-headquartered companies accounted for 31.2% of total revenues, up from 29.5% the previous year. It was followed by Japan with a 23.2% share, down from 23.5% the previous year, and China, which had a 16.9% share, up from 15.0% in the 2011 edition of the Yellow Table (based on 2010 revenues).

China's construction equipment manufacturers have seen their share of the top 50's revenues climb for six consecutive years. Over the last decade, their share has increased more than ten-fold in percentage terms. In 2003, the first year the yellow table was published, China's manufacturers had a share of just 1.6%, worth just $841 million. Today their 16% share is worth $30.6 billion.

The report's author, Chris Sleight, said, “A rebound in the European, North American and Japanese construction markets was the key driver last year. There was also growth for some of China's larger players, but they faced the first significant headwinds for more than a decade as the country's stimulus spending programs came to an end. Over the next 12 months the continued recovery in North America is likely to be decisive for the 2013 Yellow Table.”

2012 Yellow Table top ten — the world's largest construction equipment manufacturers

Position	Company	Last Year	Change	Country
1	Caterpillar	1	–	US
2	Komatsu	2	–	JP
3	Volvo Construction Equipment	4	1	SE
4	Hitachi Construction Machinery	3	-1	JP
5	Liebherr	5	–	DE
6	Sany	7	1	CN
7	Zoomlion	8	1	CN
8	Terex	10	2	US
9	Doosan Infracore	6	-3	KR
10	John Deere	12	2	US

Rankings based on revenues from construction equipment sales in US Dollars in 2011.

The Yellow Table is available to buy from KHL's information store, www.khl.com/information-store, either as a report on single years or as a multi-annual study.
1.       KHL Group is the world's leading provider of construction information, with a portfolio that includes paper and digital magazines, websites, newsletters, research reports, industry studies, conferences, exhibitions and apps. Headquartered in the UK, the company has offices on four continents, with locations including Chicago, US, Beijing, China and Santiago, Chile.
2.       First published in 2003, the Yellow Table is an annual study of the world's 50 largest construction equipment manufacturers. The study is published every April and is regarded as the definitive global ranking for the construction equipment industry.