Hyundai Infracore, Doosan Bobcat agree to product cross-selling in US

South Korea’s two leading construction machinery makers HD Hyundai Infracore Co. and Doosan Bobcat Inc. on Thursday agreed to the cross-selling of their products under their own brands in the US market.

Cho Young-cheul, chief executive of HD Hyundai Infracore, and Doosan Bobcat CEO and Vice Chairman Scott Park signed a memorandum of understanding on the supply of their products to each other for sale in the US market.

HD Hyundai Infracore, a unit of Korean shipbuilding and machinery conglomerate HD Hyundai Co., is a leader in the mid-size construction equipment segment while Doosan Bobcat, a unit of Doosan Group, is strong in smaller equipment.

Through the cross-selling agreement, the two companies expect to expand their product lineup and increase their market share in the North American market.

“Both of us have maintained close business ties in recent years. We expect to grow our market share through this cooperation,” said HD Hyundai Infracore’s Cho.

Doosan Bobcat’s Park said: “We are pleased to further strengthen our partnership with HD Hyundai Infracore. We expect to provide more diverse options and opportunities to our customers and dealers by expanding our product lineup.”

PLATFORM INTEGRATION

The move comes as Korean construction machine makers are actively advancing into emerging markets such as India, Brazil, Mexico and Saudi Arabia, as demand in advanced markets shows signs of slowing after strong sales in 2023.

HD Hyundai Infracore, the world’s 19th-largest construction equipment maker, said it is launching a sales affiliate in Mexico this September to establish the country as its hub for the Latin American market.

Bobcat, the world’s 11th-largest construction machinery maker, is building a new production plant in Monterrey, the capital of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León.

Last December, HD Hyundai Infracore and another HD Hyundai unit, HD Hyundai Construction Equipment Co., said they would integrate an equipment manufacturing platform to cut costs and create business synergy.

In 2021, Hyundai acquired a controlling stake in Infracore from Doosan Group to pursue nonorganic growth. After the acquisition, it changed the company’s name to Hyundai Doosan Infracore and again relaunched as HD Hyundai Infracore with a new equipment brand name, Develon.

Write to Sang-Hoon Sung at uphoon@hankyung.com

In-Soo Nam edited this article.