Caterpillar calls halt to high reach partnership.
DemolitionNews understands that the joint venture agreement between equipment giant Caterpillar and French machine conversion specialist Demlone has run its course.
The deal, which extended Caterpillar’s demolition offering to include machines like the Cat Dem 50, has apparently ended.
Furthermore, according to industry sources, a factory-fit replacement for the Demlone products could be as much as two years away.
“The agreement with Demlone has officially ended. There are still a few machines in the factory that will be sold on or re-used within the Caterpillar organisation,” an insider says. “The long term intention is for Caterpillar to be back in that market itself. How soon that will happen is open to debate. But I can see it being 2016 or 2017 before we (Caterpillar) have a full offering again.”
In truth, UK customers may not even notice the change. Finning’s own engineering department has long-since been responsible for bringing machines up to full demolition specification, while an ongoing alliance with Ipswich-based Kocurek Excavators will maintain the supply of high reach front-end conversions.
