by company

Last year saw the largest companies in the Yellow Table increase their share of the market. As this chart illustrates, the 15 largest manufacturers account for 77.9% of total sales for all 50 companies, a +0.9 point increase from the 77.0% seen last year. It is also interesting to note that the five largest companies – Caterpillar, Komatsu, Terex, Deere and Volvo – now make up 49.2% of the total, a significant rise from the 47.1% share they enjoyed the previous year.

It is the US manufacturers that gained the largest share last year, and this should not come as any great surprise. The US market has been booming since mid-2003, and grew +16% in unit terms last year according to Off-Highway Research (see this month's news).

Growth in the US has benefited the global industry as a whole, but when any particular market takes off, it is usually the 'home' manufacturers that win the most. This is partly due to patriotism – Americans certainly have a reputation for favouring 'Made in the USA' products – but perhaps more important is the simple fact that domestic manufacturers will have been active in their home market for longer. They will tend to have the biggest and most extensive dealer networks and will therefore be best placed to reap the rewards of an up-turn.