History

The proud histories built up by two companies come together.

… Product related events

… Organization related events

1930~

1930

The 50K electric shovel (1.5m3), the first such construction machinery is released in Japan.

1934

The electric shovel 200K (4.0m3) is released.

1953

The first 10KT (6t) and 20KT (10t) truck cranes are released in Japan.

1954

The 220A diesel pile hammer, the first such product is released in Japan.

1955

A technical tie-up is signed with P&H in the United States; crane technology and other technologies are introduced.

1960

The Okubo Factory is completed; manufacturing of construction machinery begins.

1962

The Kobe Steel Construction Machinery Training Services opens at the Okubo Factory.

1963

Yutani Heavy Industries, Ltd. releases the TY45, the first wheel-type hydraulic excavator in Japan.

1964

The 300 series of crawler cranes and truck cranes is released.

1967

The H208 (0.3m3), the first crawler-type hydraulic excavator produced by using Kobelco’s proprietary technology, is released.

1969

The T series (13 to 60t) of hydraulic truck cranes is released.

The R150 rough-terrain crane is released.

1970~

1971

The K series of diesel pile hammers is released.

1977

Yutani Heavy Industries, Ltd. develops a static hydraulic fracturing nibbler.

1978

Kobelco International (S) Co., Pte. Ltd., a sales subsidiary, is established in Singapore.

1979

"KOBELCO" is adopted as an internationally standardized trademark.

1980

Yutani Heavy Industries, Ltd. develops Japan’s first vehicle dismantling machinery equipped with a fixed nibbler.

1980

Parts Central warehouse is established in the Okubo Office.

1983

Kobe Steel, Ltd. participates in capitalization and management of Yutani Heavy Industries, Ltd.

1984

The 7000 series of completely hydraulic crawler cranes is released.

1987

"SK-New MARKII" series of hydraulic excavators is released.

1987

Kobelco Construction Machinery Engineering Co., Ltd. is established.

1989

The RK70M/RK70, Japan’s first mini rough-terrain crane, is released.

The urban-type hydraulic excavator "Acera" series is released.

The CK series of crawler cranes is released.

1990~

1990

The F&G2324/2345 "First Class" series of crane/grab vessels is released.

1991

The "Panther" series of rough-terrain cranes is released.

1993

The SL13000 super-large crawler crane (800t) is released.

The "Acera Super Version" series of hydraulic excavators is released.

1994

The "Master-Tech" 7000 series of crawler cranes is released.

1994

Chengdu Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. is established as an excavator manufacturing and sales company in China.

1996

Thai Kobelco Construction Machinery Ltd. is established as an excavator manufacturing company in Thailand.

1996

The "Beetle" series of short rear tail swing mini excavators is released.

1999

The BM-HD series of crawler cranes for foundation work and city engineering is released.

1999

The Construction Machinery Division of Kobe Steel, Ltd. is merged with Yutani Heavy Industries Ltd. and Kobe Steel Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. to form Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.

2000~

2000

The TK series of telescopic boom crawler cranes is released.

2000

A business alliance is formed with Tadano Ltd. for the purpose of producing wheel-type cranes.

2001

A global alliance with CNH Global of the Fiat Group is concluded.

2001

The MK series of lattice boom wheel cranes is released.

2003

Chengdu Kobelco Construction Machinery Group Co., Ltd. is established as an integrated sales and service company in Chengdu, China.

Kobelco Construction Machinery International Trading Co., Ltd. is established as a sales company for used construction machinery.

Kobelco Cranes Europe Ltd. is established in the United Kingdom and Kobelco Cranes North America Inc. is established in the United States.

An agreement is concluded with Manitowoc Crane Group in the United States to supply crawler cranes to the US on an OEM basis.

Hangzhou Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd. is established as our second production base in China.

2004

Excavator operations and crane operations are split into separate businesses, and Kobelco Cranes Co., Ltd. is established (wholly owned by Kobe Steel, Ltd.).

2005

An agreement is concluded with Manitowoc Crane Group in the United States to supply crawler cranes to Europe on an OEM basis.

2006

Kobelco sprints to the head of the industry by exhibiting an actual hybrid excavator (monitor machine) at INTERMAT 2006, an exhibition in Paris.

The ultra-large building demolition machine SK3500D, with a maximum working height of over 63 meters, is registered to the Guinness World Record as the highest in the world at that time.

Medium-sized hydraulic excavators undergo a full model change, achieving a 20% reduction in fuel consumption compared to earlier models.

2006

The Ogaki Factory is established for manufacturing of mini excavators.

2007

Kobelco Construction Equipment India Pvt. Ltd., a sales company, is established in India.

Kobelco Cranes South East Asia Pte. Ltd. is established in Singapore.

2007

A short rear tail swing hydraulic excavator with a new "iNDr" cooling system is released.

2008

Kobelco Cranes Trading Co., Ltd., a dedicated trading company for used construction machinery, is established.

2009

Our five domestic sales companies are centralized and restructured to form two sales companies, one in the eastern part and the other in the western part of Japan.

2010~

2010

Kobelco Cranes India Pvt. Ltd. is established in India.

Kobelco takes over the direct sales business of BOMAG JAPAN and becomes the only general distributor in Japan handling importing and sales of BOMAG products.

Kobelco Cranes (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. is established in Shanghai, China.

Chengdu Kobelco Cranes Co., Ltd. is established in Chengdu, China.

2011

New factories for hydraulic excavator and crawler crane production go into operation in Andhra Pradesh, in the southeast part of India.

2011

The G and S series of crawler cranes are released.

2012

The SK200H, a hybrid hydraulic excavator in the 20t class, is released.

2012

A new factory for crawler cranes goes into operation in Chengdu, China.

Gion Factory, a main production base of excavators, moves to Itsukaichi.

The global alliance with CNH Global is cnaceled.

2013

Kobelco Construction Machinery U.S.A. Inc. is established as a sales and service company in Houston in the United States.

Kobelco Construction Machinery Europe B.V. is established as a sales and service company in the Netherlands.

2015

The Kobelco Global Parts Center is established in Singapore.

An office is opened in Germany for the purpose of strengthening large-sized crawler crane operations.

2016

The SK200H, the hydraulic excavator featuring a lithium-ion battery, is released.

2016年

Kobelco Construction Machinery and Kobelco Cranes merged their management organizations to form Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.

A new factory for hydraulic excavator goes into operation in Spartanburg Country, South Carolina, United States.

Kobelc Construction Machinery Middle East&Africa FZCO., is established as a sales and service company in the U.A.E.

2017

"Dig Nav Job Site Takamatsu", a facility to learn about ICT construction machines, opens in Japan.

Kobelco Construction Machinery Southeast Asia Co., Ltd. is established as an integreted manufacture and sales company in Thailand.

2017

The TK750G telescopic boom crawler crane is released.

2018

A joint research laboratory with Hiroshima University opens and it reinforces the activities for Industry-Academic Collaboration afterwards.

An agreement is canceled with Manitowoc Crane Group in the United States to supply crawler cranes overseas.

Joint ventures with Chinese investors on business in China are dissolved and restructurd, and 7 subsidiaries are put together into 3 subsidiaries.

2019

Our two domestic sales companies (for eastern part and western part) are merged, and Kobelco Construction Machinery Japan Co., Ltd. is established.

2019

The new hydraulic excavator in the 7ton class with renewed functionality and comfortability is released.

2020年~

2020年

The long-distance remote control demonstration experiment with remote control (K-DIVE CONCEPT) succeeded.

2021年

The 130-ton class extra-large building demolition machine SK1300DLC is released.

2021年

The crawler crane Mastertech 7200G NEO is released.