BOBACT, which will soon roll out its millionth loader, is confident of growth in “all or most markets” over the next five years, following what has been a difficult period for most players in the construction industry.

Sales of loaders are expected to grow by five per cent, telescopic handlers by 15 per cent, and excavators by a whopping 20 per cent each year, according to Gaby Rhayem, Doosan Infracore International’s regional director Middle East and Africa, and Giuliano Parodi, vice-president sales, marketing, service, dealer development (sales and customer solutions) EMEA at Doosan Infracore Construction Equipment.

Rhayem and Parodi spoke to Gulf Construction on the sidelines of Doosan Bobcat’s annual dealer conference for the Middle East, which was held in Dubai, UAE, last month, where they both expressed cautious optimism about the Middle East, where prospects were “mixed”.

At the event, Bobcat, which is part of the Doosan group, put the spotlight on its pioneering tool carrier concept while showcasing new products that the manufacturer plans to introduce to the region.

Elaborating on Bobcat’s popularity in the Middle East, Rhayem says that there are now more than 30, 000 Bobcats in the region that are less than eight years old.

Bobcat owners generally buy new machines every three years with the older machines finding demand in a buoyant used market, he points out.

Multitude of uses ... a S570 loader with a planer and a machine with a dozer blade (below).

Both new as well as used Bobcats are supported by the manufacturer’s extensive dealer network, and downtimes are limited to the shortest time possible as most spare parts are available at the dealers.

However, given the range of specialist attachments and tools that can be fitted to a Bobcat machine, a massive warehouse located in Belgium ensures that spares are delivered to the dealer “as quickly as possible and usually within 24 hours of request”.

Bobcat offers three basic ranges – loaders, excavators and telescopic handlers – in addition to a wide range of families of specialist tools and attachments, and with growth forecast over the next five years, the manufacturer is keen that its dealers rise to the challenge to deliver, according to both Rhayem and Parodi.

Here, Bobcat’s continuous improvements and innovations across its line of machinery will help the manufacturer further extend its sales in most of the geographical markets where it is already a dominant player, while making inroads into new markets and sectors, they say.

Citing an example, they point to the telescopic segment where Bobcat has new and larger machines with reaches of up to 18 m on a four-tonne model. Also, Bobcat’s ability to operate in confined spaces and challenging manoeuvring environments such as in busy roadways again comes to the forefront when compared with other options, they say.

Meanwhile, Bobcat’s one-tonne and two tonne telehandlers, with a naturally more limited reach again, extend the menu of options for the industry.

Rhayem and Parodi are also keen to focus on the prowess of Bobcat’s mini-excavators which daily demonstrate the benefit that a tracked vehicle base gives when operating in the sandy environmental conditions generally found in the region, as well as when faced with confined and restricted environments such as operating on roads and remaining within the active workspace without spilling over into live lanes of traffic.

Besides innovation and improvements, Bobcat is also focusing on training its dealers and educating customers about the versatility that Bobcat’s machines possess as tool carriers as opposed to single-function machines, thanks to the vast array of attachments that are available.

To this end, a specialist training academy has been opened in the Czech Republic within its manufacturing plant. Here, both dealers as well as customers can not only see Bobcats being manufactured but also participate in a classroom setting as well as “hands on” with machines in planned environments, exploring their capabilities and crucially also the vast range of tools that may be attached to them.

In the Middle East, the most commonly used Bobcat attachment is the bucket, followed by the brush or sweeper. However the fastest growing is the wheelsaw for trenching and installation of cabling.

And the “most novel” is possibly the sand blower attachment, which again neatly illustrates the impressive range of tools that may be attached to a Bobcat.

Rhayem and Parodi both identify a lack of knowledge as a major obstacle to customers more fully realising the potential that Bobcats have to fulfil their needs and more fully realise and exploit opportunities – and this gap in knowledge is something that Doosan Bobcat and its dealers are “determined to close”, they conclude.