I T WAS FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY
In 1970 – the same year e Beatles disbanded – Liebherr built its rst factory in the
USA. At March’s ConExpo in Las Vegas the company will mark the anniversary
ABOVE: Liebherr-America’s fi rst
series of hydraulic excavators
included the R 945 and the R 925
RIGHT: The factor in Newport
News, Virginia, opens for business
98
Liebherr-America began life in 1970 with the construction
of two 300,000 sq. ft. production facilities and an offi ce
building in Newport News, Virginia. Multiple prototypes
and products were developed, produced and
manufactured there including cranes, bulldozers and
a speciality logging excavator known as The Swamper.
During its fi rst full year of production 145 excavators
rolled off the production line. By 1973, 100 machines had
been sold, with an additional 100 on back order. According
to Ernst Berndl, Liebherr’s US president at the time,
“demand far exceeds what we anticipated.”
Throughout the 1980s, Liebherr established fresh
locations for new business units including maritime
cranes, mining equipment, concrete technology,
components and aerospace. In the 1990s, the company
bought a Kansas-based truck maker and started producing
mining trucks out of Newport News, leading to
a range of diesel electric machines designed to handle
400-tonne payloads
By 2000 Liebherr had expanded its range of
cranes available in the US by establishing fresh outlets
across the country. Recently, in 2016, the fi rm consolidated
nine of its divisions into Liebherr USA, a new company
that today provides sales and service on behalf of 10
product units including construction equipment, mining
machines and the cranes the Liebherr name is so
synonymous with. iVT
LOOKING BACK.
iVTInternational.com February 2020
/iVTInternational.com