Hitachi Construction Machinery

Tokyo, 19 August 2021 — Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Taito-ku, Tokyo, President and Executive Officer: Kotaro Hirano, hereinafter “Hitachi Construction Machinery”) and Deere & Company (headquarters: Moline, Illinois, Chairman of the Board and CEO: John C. May, hereinafter “Deere”) have agreed to terminate the joint venture manufacturing and marketing agreements that have been in place since 1988.

Upon the dissolution of the alliance and starting from March 2022, Hitachi Construction Machinery will be able to provide the newest products, technologies, and services directly to our customers through our independent dealer network, as part of the integrated Hitachi Construction Machinery Group activities throughout the North, Central and South American markets. Hitachi Construction Machinery Group will offer sales and services of compact to construction-sized hydraulic excavators, ultra-large mining machines, and, in addition, wheel loaders, all of which are recognized globally for their excellence in performance and quality, in these markets.

Going forward, Hitachi Construction Machinery will have Hitachi Construction Machinery Loaders America, Inc., (headquarters: Georgia, Chairman of the Board: Masaaki Hirose, hereinafter, “Hitachi Construction Machinery Loaders America”), which currently serves as the production and distribution base for Hitachi branded wheel loaders, to function as the hub of its activities in the Americas. Hitachi Construction Machinery will coordinate with the group companies in the region to build a new business structure.

While utilizing and strengthening the existing network of Hitachi branded wheel loader dealers, Hitachi Construction Machinery Group will build an optimal network throughout the entire North, Central and South American markets for marketing and servicing of its equipment.

Hitachi Construction Machinery and Deere have entered into a new Supply Agreement under which Hitachi Construction Machinery will provide Deere with OEM supply of Deere branded excavators, as well as components and service parts to Deere’s manufacturing and distribution bases in the United States and in Brazil for the time being.

Furthermore, we are placing our utmost priority on providing uninterrupted services after the dissolution of the joint venture to our customers who own products manufactured or sold through the joint venture business.

Since 1988, when Hitachi Construction Machinery and Deere established Deere-Hitachi Construction Machinery Corporation, a joint venture for manufacturing and sales in North Carolina, the United States, we have built significant relationships as partners throughout North, Central and South America.

Hitachi Construction Machinery has promoted local production in earnest by providing excavator technology, which is world-class technology. Marketing has been carried out through collaboration throughout the Americas by Deere, which has a strong presence in the region in agricultural equipment.

On the other hand, in recent years, as global SDGs and other trends have increased, construction, civil engineering and mining customers have an increasing demand from construction machinery manufacturers for the three basic objectives of improved safety, improved productivity, and reduced lifecycle costs.

In order to respond to customers’ needs, Hitachi Construction Machinery has been making group-wide, full-fledged efforts to expand and deepen businesses beyond new machinery sales (value chain business: parts and service, rental, used equipment, parts remanufacturing, finance, etc.), starting with our previous medium-term management plan which became implemented from FY2017. Beginning in March 2022, we will be able to provide direct, cutting-edge solutions that address the challenges of customers throughout North, Central and South America for not only compact and construction-size wheel loaders but also compact and construction-size excavators, mining excavators and mining dump trucks.

In the future, the Hitachi Construction Machinery Group will make the following specific efforts in the North, Central and South American markets.

Should you have any further questions, please feel free to to contact marketing@hcmaf.com