Sime Darby Industrial Sdn Bhd (SDI) is targeting to capture 15 percent of the market share for 20-tonne excavators in Malaysia by June 2019, following the launch of Caterpillar’s new Next Generation Cat Excavators – the Cat 320 and Cat 320 GC.
The two new excavators, which will be making their maiden entry into the Malaysian heavy equipment market, are the culmination of Caterpillar’s 25 years of research, testing hundreds of machines and reflecting the views expressed by its customers over the years.
According to SDI’s Managing Director Teoh Cy Kuan, seven customers have already committed to take up the new Cat excavators, and that with prices starting from RM430,000, SDI is expecting more orders to flow in after the official launch this Friday.
“We hope to sell at least 150 of the Cat 320 and Cat 320 GC models in the next twelve months to the 20-tonne excavator market, which has a market share of 1,000 units per year. We also expect the Next Generation Cat Excavators to be the flagship for Sime Darby Industrial Malaysia with more models to be introduced in the coming years,” Teoh said during a media preview of the machines at the Tractors Engineering Complex in Puchong, Selangor.
With keyless push-button start and large touch screen features, the new excavators offer unique combinations of purpose-built features designed to match customers’ productivity and applications. The Next Generation Cat Excavators also promote safer work environments and are able to mitigate risks through multiple active safety features. The new machines consume 15 to 20 percent less fuel, while offering more synchronised maintenance intervals, thereby reducing maintenance costs by up to 15 percent, as compared to the previous corresponding models. Cat LINK™ hardware and software connect jobsites to the office and provide customers with machine-critical operating information.
The new Cat 320 which boasts the industry’s highest standard factory-equipped technology, the integrated Cat Connect Technology, is capable of increasing operating efficiency by up to 45 percent over traditional grading operations.
The new Cat 320 GC, designed for low to medium-duty applications, combines the right balance of productivity features with reduced fuel consumption and maintenance costs. The result is high reliability and low cost-per-hour performance.
