John Deere recently signed an agreement to purchase Unimil, a Brazilian company specializing in aftermarket parts for sugarcane harvesters. In the announcement, President of Deere’s Worldwide Agriculture and Turf Division in the Americas Cory Reed recognized Unimil’s outstanding reputation in the sugarcane business, and praised their cultivation of a loyal client base through “excellent service and products.” Should the deal go through as expected, the joint companies will further expand John Deere’s reach into the expansive sugarcane industry of Brazil.          

Komatsu America has unveiled its new low ground pressure dozer, the D155AX-8 LGP. Along with multiple blade options, this new 354 horsepower dozer features a 12% wider track gauge, 47% lower ground pressure and 9% longer track on ground than the standard D155AX-8 for “improved performance, flotation and stability.” The company is advertising the upcoming release as being the perfect site-prep solution for gas and pipeline operations.

Bobcat recently unveiled their new Next is Now campaign — a fresh initiative designed to reinvent the compact equipment industry with Bobcat as the global leader. Embracing the spirit of change, the company is committing themselves to new products and smart technologies that take advantage of the digitized, interconnected environment of the 21st century. The announcement was made at Bobcat’s new 44,400 square-foot training center in Aurora, Colorado, where it will deploy “world-class training to certified Bobcat compact equipment dealers” as part of the Next is Now strategy.

This month, Komatsu announced that it will soon deploy 41 of its new 930E-5 ultra-class haul trucks to BHP’s South Flank iron ore mine in Western Australia. As we reported on earlier in the year, this development follows recent initiatives in the autonomous mining space which have contributed to Komatsu becoming among the market’s most influential players. With more tonnes of material hauled autonomously than all competitors combined, Komatsu currently leads the field with 180 autonomous trucks operating globally across 3 continents and 9 mine sites on advanced LTE mobile broadband technology.

John Deere recently announced a massive expansion to their TimberMatic^TM Maps and TimberManager^TM productivity solutions, which will now include full-tree equipment like feller bunchers, skidders, wheeled and tracked harvesters, forwarders and swing machines. Building upon their established foundation in the space, John Deere hopes these additions will bring the productivity and safety benefits of their management solutions to a whole new set of customers in the logging industry.

This week, Daimler subsidiary Freightliner is delivering its first two eCascadia Class 8 Trucks to Penske Truck Leasing and NFI to test commercial integration of battery electric trucks. As part of Daimler Truck’s global electrified truck initiative dubbed the ‘Innovation Fleet’, the eCascadia joins over 100 electrified trucks and buses from the company already on the road, including FUSO’s eCanter, Thomas Built Buses’s all-electric Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley school bus, and Mercedes-Benz’s eActros and eCitaro.

This summer, Kubota is previewing their brand new M8 heavy tractor series, the company’s largest ever. Set to launch in spring 2020, Kubota President and CEO Harry Yoshida stated that the M8 Series will help to “establish [Kubota’s] presence in the segment” and position the company to “steadily grow [its] share” in the future.    

John Deere hopes to reduce its service technician labor shortage by implementing a new apprenticeship program through the U.S. Department of Labor, the company announced just last week. 

Bobcat recently unveiled the UV34 and UV34XL -- its latest entry into the competitive utility vehicle space. These diesel UTVs are designed to tow trailers, transport crew, and haul materials, tools and equipment, while ensuring maximum productivity and performance at worksites, according to the company.

Caterpillar recently highlighted the Cat 299D2 XHP Land Management compact track loader: a purpose-built machine designed to handle your brush-cutting, mulching, mowing and vegetation control needs across site preparation, fire prevention, railroad maintenance, agriculture and forestry work sites.