Postcards from Intermat 2024 (Part One)

This week we will be taking a look back on some of the things we saw at Intermat and picking out a few highlights and interesting topics.

Intermat, which took place at its spiritual home of the Paris-Nord Villepinte exhibition centre, made a triumphant return last week after a long six-year absence, the last show was the 2018 edition, with the 2021 event being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

I last attended the show in 2015, and was delighted to be back this time around, however I had forgotten how tricky it is to navigate around, and by the time I had got back into the groove, it was time to come home again.

Photo: Flying the flag in Paris with Keen Attachments.

I must say, I am a fan of this event, it’s a decent size, but not overwhelming like Bauma, and it seemed to be pretty busy to me, despite some media reports of a difficult economic backdrop for the French construction industry.

There was plenty to see and do at the show, and it was great to engage with old and new friends in the industry, it was also great to meet up with some new faces in the marketing world, and to re-connect with certain brands, which reminded me of what a fast-changing world we are all living in.

Photo: Liebherr presented the 972 hydraulic excavator with the TA 230 articulated hauler.

Sunward Europe had a number of new models on their stand, some of which I will be covering in my show report article for Earthmovers Magazine, but the new style 21-tonne class SWE 215F was a standout machine for me.

Takeuchi chose Intermat as the launchpad for the long anticipated TB370W compact wheeled excavator, tipping the scales at around the 8-tonne mark depending on specification, the new model features a TAB boom. The machine is based on the 3-Series TB370 tracked model.

DEVELON gave a European premiere to its unique Concept-X 2.0 automated construction equipment solution. Unveiled by the manufacturer in 2019, they were demonstrated at Conexpo in Las Vegas last year.

The machines currently include the 225 hydraulic excavator, and the 10-tonne dozer. At the show the machines were being operated remotely but full autonomous operation can be achieved based on global navigation satellite system (GNSS).

Bobcat presented a prototype TL25.60e electric powered telescopic handler, which is based on the conventional internal combustion engined model which is already in the manufacturers range of products.

We found out more from our friend Denis Agnew, who is the Idea Acceleration Manager at Doosan Bobcat, quite possibly one of the most interviewed guys at the show, super infomative and passionate about the products! Checkout our brief interview below.