2023 marks an important anniversary for Kobelco Construction Machinery Europe B.V. (KCME) as the company celebrates ten years since re-establishing operations in Europe. The Japanese excavator specialist first announced its return to the region in 2013 with the unveiling of its headquarters in Almere, The Netherlands.
Over the past 10 years, Kobelco has been committed to fast, but controlled dealer network growth and now boasts coverage in more than 40 locations in Europe, CIS and Maghreb. Its extensive product range includes conventional machinery from its smallest 1-tonne SK08 mini excavator to its largest 90-tonne SK850LC, as well as an innovative range of demolition machinery and lattice boom crawler cranes from 55-550 tonnes.
To mark the momentous occasion, KCME invited all of its dealers and long-term European partners to a special celebratory event in Amsterdam, where the brand new Kobelco SK26SR-7 mini excavator was also showcased for the first time.
In addition, another important part of the event was the announcement of KCME’s relocation to a new and much larger purpose-built headquarters in Lelystad. The 17,500m2 building, which is situated on 30,000m2 of land owned by KCME, will comprise of three main buildings: a warehouse, three-floor offices and one equipped with training facilities, workshop and showroom. There is also a demo field foreseen. The new KCME headquarters are expected to be completed in 2025.
Attendees to the 10-year anniversary celebration also had the opportunity to hear business insights from key members of the KCME team, including Managing Director Makoto Kato and General Manager Product Marketing, Olivier Rasmont. Senior leadership from Kobelco’s Japanese headquarters were also in attendance at the event, which concluded with a gala dinner and evening entertainment.
KCME Managing Director, Makoto Kato, said: “What a fantastic way to celebrate 10 years of Kobelco in Europe! I am extremely proud of what KCME has achieved since our re-establishment in Europe in 2013 and want to extend my gratitude to all our dealers, partners, customers and employees, who have continued to be loyal to the Kobelco brand over the past decade. “Looking to the future, we are excited to further reinforce our commitment to the European market and are proud to be taking an important step in expanding our headquarters to a new, larger purpose-built facility in Lelystad. We look forward to another ten years of our close collaboration.”
