As China's construction industry stagnated due to the Korona19 impact, the sales of excavators in China plunged, putting the emergency light on Doosan Infracore's performance. China is the world's largest excavator market, with Doosan Infracore's sales in China reaching 15 percent as of last year. Doosan Infracore plans to overcome the slump in the Chinese market by focusing on North American and European markets, which have recently performed well.

According to the financial investment industry on the 27th, sales of excavators in China fell 23.5 percent on-year to 7,756 units last month, the lowest in three years.

The sales of Caterpillar fell 47 percent on-year, while China's largest construction machinery maker, Saney, also saw a 20 percent drop in sales. Doosan Infracore also sold 370 excavators in January, down 31 percent from a year earlier. According to NH Investment & Securities, Doosan Infracore's market share stood at 4.8 percent in January this year, down half from 10.5 percent two years ago.

Usually, excavator sales in China have entered the peak season since the Spring Festival and peaked in March and April, but this year it has remained sluggish until February due to the influence of Corona 19. Industry sources expect that if Korona19 calms down after March, its excavator sales will recover on the back of the Chinese government's stimulus measures, including the resumption of railway construction, but the benefits will be limited due to a decrease in market share. Based on last year's consolidated sales, Doosan Infracore's sales amounted to 8.185 trillion won. Of the total, sales in China are around 1.2 trillion won, with around 15 percent of sales.

Doosan Infracore is planning to overcome the slump in the Chinese market by expanding its North American and European markets. In fact, Doosan Infracore's sales in China fell 4.7 percent last year, but overall sales increased 5.9 percent year-on-year thanks to nearly 7 percent growth in the North American and European markets.

Doosan Infracore sold more than 4,500 construction machines in the European market last year. The figure represents a 12 percent on-year growth, the biggest performance in 12 years since it sold some 4,200 vehicles in 2007. Doosan Infracore has continued double-digit growth in the European market for four consecutive years since 2016.

The company explains that digital solutions, which allow management and verification of construction equipment multiple times at a time on the site, are the driving forces behind the growth. In other words, more efficient management of the entire construction equipment is essential for protecting profitability. Based on this advanced digital technology, Doosan Infracore is selling 100 wheel loaders to global construction material company Symax, and 80 excavators to French equipment rental company Beurock, making a series of "order hits" in Europe.

It is also actively trying to strengthen its competitive edge in sales. Doosan Infracore held a meeting of European dealers in Lisbon, Portugal on Saturday. Some 150 dealers gathered from across Europe, including major markets such as Britain, France and Germany, to discuss ways to expand their operations. Previously in April last year, at the world's largest construction machinery exhibition 'BAUMA 2019', which was held in Munich, Germany, it introduced high-tech technologies such as 5G telecommunication-based construction machine remote control technology, as well as information and communication technology (ICT) solutions such as Doosan Connect and 3D Machine Garden to strengthen its competitive edge in sales.

The North American market is expanding its operations by building an assembly center. Last year, it established a custom assembly center for construction machines in West Banner, Georgia, and began full-fledged operations in December. In the past, Doosan Infracore has been restricted from responding to orders in the North American market if it does not have stock that meets the specifications required by customers.

It took an average of more than 100 days to order, produce, ship and ship because it was impossible to respond immediately there. Doosan Infracore explained, "With the establishment of an assembly center, we will be able to finish it in four to six weeks from order to delivery."

Doosan Infracore plans to launch its new wheel loader lineup in the European market in the second half of this year. It won the best 'PIN UP' design award, one of the top three design awards in South Korea last December and received the main prize at Germany's '2020 iF Design Award' this month.