The Baden Davis Crane Connection has been appointed the XCMG distributor for the ACT, New South Wales and Queensland.
Industry experts and Directors of the Crane Connection, Anthony Davis and Ben Baden, provide an in depth look into the appointment and what the industry can expect.
“We were in discussions with XCMG for a number of months and in the end it came down to a straight forward business decision. For some time, we have seen market conditions change with various European and US manufactured brands getting increasingly expensive and crane hire companies finding it harder and harder to see a return on their investment, particularly on new cranes.
“In contrast, we have watched the Chinese brands evolve and develop their products to meet various globally-recognised standards particularly for the European and US markets, and we have also seen brands like XCMG becoming increasingly accepted by the local market,” said Anthony.
“What’s more, the cranes are obviously delivering performance because crane hire companies, both large and small, have come back to buy multiple units. We could see the timing was right to move our business in this direction.”
XCMG’s long-term approach
During the months of negotiation, it became clear to Ben and Anthony that XCMG has a strong, long-term focus for the Australian market.
“XCMG don’t want to rush products that are not ready for entry into the Australian market. The decisions they make are thoughtful and calculated, and the products we will be bringing in have been thoroughly tested to the high and exacting standards your typical Australian crane customer is expecting,” said Ben. “We appreciated that this approach wasn’t just in theory, it is based on a thorough understanding of the high standards the Australian market requires, and this was one of the fundamental reasons we decided to go with XCMG.”
XCMG at Bauma
During this years’ bauma, XCMG announced it had joined forces with Sarens Group, an international giant in crane rental services and heavy lifting, to establish a strategic partnership aimed at transforming the landscape of heavy lifting operations.
As part of this collaboration, XCMG successfully delivered the first batch of its cutting-edge five-axle 250-tonne all terrain cranes, the XCA250G7-1E, to Sarens. Designed with the European market in mind, the XCA250G7-1E represents a significant milestone in XCMG’s commitment to innovation and excellence in machinery design. Sarens will integrate these advanced cranes into its fleet, enhancing its ability to execute complex lifting projects with precision, efficiency, and reliability. These models will be coming to the Australian and New Zealand markets.
“We were in negotiations with XCMG well before bauma, but the Sarens announcement certainly cemented our opinion that we were headed in the right direction,” said Anthony.
“Seeing the launch of the new models and watching a leading lifting business like Sarens, purchasing large numbers of XCMG cranes, and publicly endorsing the XCMG range, certainly made our decision easier.
“XCMG is developing cranes for the global markets including Europe where the EU Standards include EN 13,000. These are standards which are applicable for the Australian market. XCMG has also ensured the axle weights on the mobile crane range suit most of our states,” he said.
XCMG recently unveiled its latest lineup of fuel-efficient and low-emission cranes at major European industry events. The company introduced the XCA60_EV, a hybrid all terrain crane, at Vertikal Days in the UK and at France’s JDL, drawing strong interest from industry stakeholders.
Purpose-built for European job sites, the XCA60_EV is equipped with a proprietary oil-electric hybrid drivetrain that cuts fuel consumption and reduces carbon output by up to 40 per cent. The launch demonstrates XCMG’s advancing capabilities in sustainable engineering and next-generation lifting solutions.
Revised business strategy
Taking on the XCMG distributor means a departure from a recognised element of The Crane Connection’s business model.
“We won’t be importing used cranes anymore, but obviously we can still ‘trade in’ local cranes, refurbish and resell them locally. Now we have the opportunity to offer new machines which are Australian Design Rule (ADR) compliant with a two year warranty from XCMG.
“At this stage, not every model is ADR compliant but the factory is working hard on this. Currently the 40 tonne and 60 tonne all terrains are, and there is an 80t a 250t and there’s a 120t four-axle coming as well. There’s also a 260t tele crawler on the way. ADR compliance doesn’t just happen overnight, so it will take a while for the factory to go through this process and to have additional models compliant and available,” said Anthony.
Demand for XCMG
Anthony and Ben expect demand to be across the XCMG range.
“One hundred per cent we expect demand to be across the entire range including the larger capacity cranes. Even though the 600t to 4000t all terrains are not ADR compliant at this stage, they can still can be floated from site to site around Australia.
“Economically, and from a business perspective, this becomes a viable option because the purchase price is significantly lower than European and US manufactured product. Massive capacity all terrains are ideally suited for large infrastructure projects and wind farm construction, and we expect to be having interesting conversations with the larger players around these types of applications,” said Ben.
Service and support from The Crane Connection
With a rich crane heritage, purpose-built crane facility and experienced service and support personnel, The Crane Connection is the ideal partner for XCMG.
“We’ve been in the industry for 30 years and that time, we’ve built a purpose-built crane facility. We have a dedicated team of highly qualified mechanics and technicians many of whom have been with us over a very long term. Each continues to receive high levels of training and are now being exposed to XCMG factory training across the range,” said Anthony.
“Levin from XCMG’s factory has been working with us on the technical training and also on the spare parts strategy and this will be an ongoing process as the different models arrive. We’ll be stocking parts for the models as they come in
“At the moment, we have a 40t all terrain a 100t tele-crawler in the yard and we have the critical spare parts for these plus the fast-moving parts such as filters. As different models arrive, like the 60t arriving shortly, the parts will come in for these models as well.
“We can also draw on the parts XCMG already has in Melbourne and in Kalgoorlie and there is also a large parts depot in Welshpool in Western Australia. There is quite a crossover of parts between the crawler cranes and all terrain cranes which simplifies the process to a degree,” he said.
“As far as service is concerned, we will continue to work with our network of service providers and agents, many of which have been working with us for many years. XCMG also has technicians on the ground in Australia as well so we are very confident that we will maintain the high levels of after sales service and support customers of The Crane Connection have come to expect.”