Caterpillar to build wheel loader factory in China

Caterpillar Inc. has signed an investment agreement with the Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee (SIPAC) to build a new wheel loader manufacturing facility in the Suzhou Industrial Park in China's Jiangsu province, 84km north west of Shanghai.

The new production facility on 23ha, will be wholly owned and operated by Caterpillar which intends to begin construction of a 3.5ha building there in early 2007.

“This will add to Caterpillar's growing operations in China and provide the primary manufacturing source for its wheel loaders in Asia,” said Rich Lavin, vice president of operations for Caterpillar's Asia Pacific Division.

In total, Caterpillar operates 13 joint venture and wholly owned China-based facilities. Its core products made there include excavators, track-type tractors, graders and paving products, large diesel engines used primarily for marine and power generation applications and generator sets for use in China and the Asia Pacific region. It also makes components at several facilities in China and holds a minority stake in Shandong SEM Machinery Co Ltd (SEM), one of China's leading wheel loader manufacturers.

Caterpillar has a long history in China. The company sold its first products there in 1975 and opened an office in Beijing in 1978 a year before Chairman Mao died. Beijing is home to its marketing headquarters for China, and it is also the headquarters for Cat China Financial Leasing.

In the 1980s, Caterpillar launched technology transfer agreements with Chinese manufacturers who began building Caterpillar licensed products. Caterpillar's expansion in China accelerated in the early 1990s with the establishment of a more significant local production strategy.

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Caterpillar to build wheel loader factory in China

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