This year will be the fourth consecutive year in Germany that mobile crane sales, including both wheeled and crawler-mounted, are below 500 units. This is a market size not seen since the first half of the 1980s. But even at this level, and despite the crawler market being totally dormant, Germany remains the biggest mobile crane market in Europe and the home market of the big four all terrain producers.
Mobile crane sales in 2003 were in the region of 460 units. In 2004 sales fell to 355 units, according to VDMA statistics – and this despite it being a Bauma year. The excitement of that event, it seems, was not enough to persuade German crane buyers to open their increasingly dusty wallets.
With fewer than 90 units purchased in the first quarter of 2005, this year’s numbers are set to be maybe 5% but probably no more than 10% up on 2004. None of the manufacturers, it seems, is expecting it to top 400.
The crawler crane market is in even worse shape. Last year there were just four units sold – two by Liebherr and two by Terex Demag. “The crawler crane market is presently satisfied,” says Liebherr Ehingen marketing manager Wolfgang Beringer, “as in the past larger numbers of crawlers were purchased, mainly for the erection of wind power plants”.
Christian Schorr-Golsong, Beringer’s counterpart at Terex Demag, adds: “We see some changes for large crawlers over 300t. Our impression is that some rental companies are leaving that business and concentrating on telescopic cranes, with crawlers becoming a special segment.”
Demand for smaller crawlers, says Schorr-Golsong, is lower than in other European countries. No German contractor or rental company has yet to buy a Demag-badged IHI crawler, for example.
Interestingly, although the manufacturers agree that total mobile crane sales in 2005 are unlikely to be much different from 2004, most express confidence that their own sales will increase, thanks to their new products, particularly in the five-axle class, which is currently the most hotly competed market segment. Since Bauma 2004 the four German AT producers have brought out nine new or upgraded five-axle AT models, making a total of 16 models available to customers (see Cover Story, CT May 05).
Liebherr consistently has market leadership for wheeled mobiles in Germany, and claims a 48% market share for both 2003 and 2004. Strong segments for Liebherr are the high volume two-axle class (its 35t capacity LTM 1030-2.1 had a market share close to 60% last year) and in the low volume seven- and eight-axle class (Liebherr’s 400 and 500 tonners together had a market share of more than 75%, the company says).
Liebherr has also recently made its second domestic delivery of an LG 1750, its 750t-rated lattice boom truck crane, to Grohmann. This crane carried out its first job in July, erecting turbines in a wind park in Brieske (Brandenburg).
Terex Demag says that its market share has been consistently edging upwards since Terex took over in 2001. The target is to reach a 25% share of the German market, which means selling close to 100 cranes this year. “The City class is still one of our strongest segments with high market shares and a continuously high demand,” says Schorr-Golsong. “Also for the five-axle cranes we see a strong demand for Demag products and a good market share in this class. “
Tadano Faun’s strength in recent years has been in the four-axle class, with its ATF 60-4 and ATF 80-4, taxi cranes rated at 60t and 80t respectively. The unique selling point of these cranes is that they have two engines and so save on diesel because the carrier engine does not have to be running to power crane operations, Faun says. This year, however, Faun has been establishing a presence in the five-axle class, thanks to the ATF 110G-5 and 160G-5, rated at 110t and 160t respectively. Although premiered at Bauma last year, it is only this year that deliveries have strongly set in.
With the launch of the G (standing for Global) series ATF 65G-4, to replace the ATF 60-4, Tadano Faun expects to increase its share in the four-axle class too.
Grove had a strong 2004 in Germany, but Volker Krautwig, Manitowoc Crane Group sales director responsible for Germany, admits that “this year has been harder”. He says: “Competition is becoming more intense and the price increases forced by higher material costs have not gone over well in the market. It has affected investment in new machines as – from the market’s perspective – cranes are getting more expensive but the rental rates are staying the same.”
Grove’s strongest sellers are its three-axle GMK 3055 (55t) and its three five-axle ATs – the GMK 5100 (100t), the new GMK 5130-1 (130t) and the GMK 5200 (200t).
Krautwig says that new product development is planned to win back market share in the two- and four-axle categories.
Towers slowly rise
The demise of the tower crane market in Germany has been well documented. The building boom that followed reunification generated massive demand. Once the boom was over, the majority of the tower crane population was left lying down in yards. The fall in demand led to the disappearance of some manufacturers, like BKT (acquired by Potain), and the virtual cessation of production at Peiner (acquired by Terex, which closed the Trier factory) and Wolff. Wolff still produces a few cranes, but much of its business is now rental. Parent company MAN has had the division up for sale for years – Potain nearly finalised a deal in the late 1990s before picking up BKT instead – and finally sold it at the end of July. The purchasers, for an undisclosed sum, were Peter Schiefer, an engineer formerly with Siemens, and Hans-Peter Koller. The new owners plan to continue the business as it is and keep the Wolffkran name. MAN’s disposal of Wolff was driven by its wider strategy of selling non-core assets, rather than the result of disillusionment with the crane industry. However, what market there is for new towers in Germany today is dominated by Liebherr, the market leader, and Potain.
The good news is that demand is now rising again. The tower crane market grew by more than 20% in 2004, although this was from a very low level. Liebherr reports similar growth this year and expects this trend to continue in 2006.
Potain is also receiving a growing number of requests for quotes, says Volker Krautwig, sales director responsible for Germany at parent company Manitowoc Crane Group. He says. “Much of the increase in demand can be attributed to a growing trend for rental, rather than purchase, among contractors and the fact that many fleets need to be replenished after large numbers of machines were sold out of Germany into the used market.”
The majority of tower cranes sold in Germany are the self-erecting type, with the 31-40tm class being the largest. Within this class, Liebherr reports a successful debut for its 42K.1.
For top-slewing cranes the 141-200tm class remains the most popular size, and in this class Liebherr enjoyed relatively good sales of its new 154 EC-HM 6 FR.tronic.
Regarding market trends, Liebherr says that mobility of tower cranes is becoming more important to speed deployment and erection. Its HM series of trailer-mounted self-erectors, the truck-mounted MK 80 and MK 100, the crawler-mounted 32 TTR and 42 KR.1 self-erectors are all aimed at meeting this market need for greater mobility, Liebherr says.
Thanks to good market acceptance of its self-erecting Igo, GTMR and HDT ranges, Potain has kept a strong market share but is looking to grow its presence in the top-slewing market, Krautwig says. “Given our strength in self-erectors, we will look to improve our reputation in the top-slewing market and develop our presence,” he says.
Regarding the general crane and construction environment, there is a reluctance to make rash predictions. Krautwig says: “It’s too early to say what the market will be like in 2006. There is an election in Germany in September and there remains some uncertainty surrounding the political situation. Many customers are waiting to asses the situation before making any commitment to new crane purchases. The construction economy is still in bad shape as it has been for the last seven or eight years. Some estimates suggest the industry has lost over 400,000 employees during that time, which gives an indication of the seriousness of the situation.”
