KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 2): Sime Darby Industrial Sdn Bhd (SDI), a subsidiary of Sime Darby Bhd, expects the upcoming launch of the next generation excavators under the Caterpillars brand to garner a 15% market share by June 2019.

SDI said the Cat 320 and Cat 320 GC models, which will be making their maiden entry into the Malaysian heavy equipment market, are the culmination of Caterpillar's 25 years of research, testing hundreds of machines, and reflecting the views expressed by its customers over the years.

"We hope to sell at least 150 of the Cat 320 and Cat 320 GC models in the next 12 months to the 20-tonne excavator market, which has a market share of 1,000 units per year," SDI managing director Teoh Cy Kuan said in a statement today.

Teoh said seven customers have already committed to take up the new Cat excavators.

With prices starting from RM430,000, Teoh said SDI is expecting more orders to flow in after the official launch of the excavators tomorrow at the Tractors Engineering Complex in Puchong, Selangor.

"We also expect the Next Generation Cat Excavators to be the flagship for Sime Darby Industrial Malaysia with more models to be introduced in the coming years," Teoh added.

With keyless push-button start and large touch screen features, SDI said the new excavators offer unique combinations of purpose-built features designed to match customers' productivity and applications.

"The next generation Cat excavators also promote safer work environments and are able to mitigate risks through multiple active safety features," it added, noting that the new machines consume 15% to 20% less fuel, which could reduce maintenance cost by up to 15%.

The new Cat 320, which boasts the industry's highest standard factory-equipped technology, is capable of increasing operating efficiency by up to 45% over traditional grading operations.

Meanwhile, the new Cat 320 GC, designed for low- to medium-duty applications, combines the right balance of productivity features with reduced fuel consumption and maintenance costs.

"The result is high reliability and low cost-per-hour performance," it added.

SDI currently represents Caterpillar and a range of allied brands of heavy equipment products and services across Asia Pacific.