by Nick Drew | Tue 08 May 2018
KATO IMER make a grand entrance
As previously mentioned, last week marked the official entrance of KATO IMER mini excavators into the UK market, which saw the Winchester based company hold a series of Dig Days within the grounds of the Matterley Estate in Hampshire.
Mini excavators and compact tracked dumpers are big business at the moment, but there is always room for more to feed the ever-demanding appetites of the UK’s end users. The latest entrant is KATO IMER. I’ll be reporting on this in more detail in a future edition of Earthmovers Magazine, but in the meantime, here are some details on the company’s development and a brief overview of the products on offer.
In November 2016, Japanese multinational KATO WORKS CO., LTD. and Japanese conglomerate IHI Corporation Ltd. (IHI) signed an agreement to transfer 100% of the shares of IHI Construction Machinery Ltd., (IK) from IHI to KATO. As of January 2017, IK, which owned 51% of IHIMER S.p.A. based in Italy in San Gimignano (49% is still held by IMER GROUP S.p.A.) has changed its company name to KATO HEAVY INDUSTRIES CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY CO.,LTD. (KATO HICOM). As of February 17 2017, IHIMER S.p.A. has changed its company name to KATO IMER S.p.A.
The company are offering a line-up of 12 mini excavators, ranging in size from 0.9 tonnes up to 8.5 tonnes, with the models from 0.9 tonnes up to 2.7 tonnes being assembled in Italy and the 3.0 tonne to 8.5 tonne models being manufactured in Japan.
In addition to the excavators the company are offering 6 models of Italian built skid steer loaders from 330kgs up to 1000kgs, a tracked mini dumper range consisting of 5 models from 400kgs up to 1000kgs and 3 larger tracked dumpers ranging from 1500kgs up to 3000kgs. All machines will be supplied with a full 5-year manufacturer’s warranty.
The well attended Dig Day's event ran over 4 days including the Saturday, an essential day for those who work all week and cannot afford to take time off, so its good that operator's who often have great influence on machine selection were able to attend.
With a great team behind the KATO IMER UK venture, I predict exciting times ahead for this new to the UK brand, which will build on the Japanese manufacturer’s long-standing legacy in the industry.