As in the Americas region, Kobelco will supply Manitowoc with cranes up to 100t (110 US ton) capacity. Manitowoc will add Kobelco’s 55t, 80t, 90t and 100t capacity models to its product offering in Europe from July.

Kobelco will continue to sell in competition with Manitowoc in Europe, just as it does in the Americas. Last year Kobelco was the crawler crane market leader in Europe, taking more than a third of all sales. A particularly strong seller was the the 80t class CKE 800.

Manitowoc Crane Group president Glen Tellock said: ‘Manitowoc Crane Group is very excited about our expanding relationship with Kobelco Cranes. The fact is that both companies have a similar outlook on customers, products, and service. These similarities have allowed us together to find ways to better serve our customers..

Kobelco Cranes president Takashi Ishida said: ‘We recently held a launching ceremony for Kobelco branded all-terrain cranes for the Japanese market, supplied by Manitowoc [Grove]. Our customers are showing good response to the newly introduced models. I truly believe that Manitowoc is the best alliance partner in the industry.’