Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. Ltd and TCM Corporation announced that the three companies have reached an agreement to form an alliance focused on their wheel loader business. The new corporation will consist of Kawasaki’s wheel loader operation, of which Hitachi will obtain a 34 percent stake through purchasing newly issued shares.

The main purpose of the alliance is to join forces in the development and production of wheel loaders throughout the world. By joining the technological strengths and realigning the production capabilities of these three companies, the resulting wheel loader line will be very competitive, according to Kawasaki.

The alliance will allow the new company to pool all of the technological and financial strengths to focus on the Tier IV emissions compliant wheel loader product line. Kawasaki Construction Machinery Corp. of America will continue its operations in Kennesaw, Ga., and Newnan, Ga. The wheel loader line will continue to be marketed under the Kawasaki name in North and South America through the current Kawasaki distributor network.

“This is exciting because it will join the R & D capabilities of Kawasaki and Hitachi in the development of the Tier IV product. Hitachi is a well established and respected wheel loader manufacturer in Japan. We now have the resources of both companies available to improve our product and remain a competitive factor in the worldwide market,” said Gary Bell, vice president and general manager of Kawasaki Construction Machinery.

For more information, visit www.kawasakiloaders.com.