Looking Familiar: Excavator Doppelganger’s

In the early days of this blog from 2008 to about 2013, it was more often than not a self-feeding affair, individuals who read the blog used to send in photos and info that I of course was only too happy to share, with the ascent of social media platforms a lot of that material dried up, but every now and then I do still receive interesting and unusual stuff.

Last week I was contacted on our Instagram account by a Chinese guy who used the name Jack Wang. This chap works for one of the many Chinese construction machinery manufacturers, in this instance, Shangdong Pengcheng, also known as the Yantai Pencheng Machinery Manufacturing Co which is backed by South Korean businessmen. Mr Wang was keen to show me some examples of their range of excavators which at first glance look like carbon copies of the old Daewoo Solar models and are sporting the brand log of Dooxin.

A quick glance at the company’s website reveals that some machines are sold branded PCCM Heavy Industry, with some smaller models looking like carbon copies of Komatsu excavators.

The company has an efficient modern factory covering 10,000 square metres which features 4 assembly lines and employs 600 people.

I’m noticing many of these company’s are now using social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook to spread the word about their products and I doubt I was the only one to receive the DM inviting me to connect and to even possibly visit China to see the machines first hand.

With at least a couple of more well-known Chinese brands already making decent in-roads into the UK market, it will be interesting to see who’s next, however, it’s unlikely that these old style machines, which I doubt are anywhere near EU emissions compliant, would ever be considered by serious UK buyers.