Hitachi Construction Machinery, which is changing its name to Landcros in April, has signed a deal with fellow-Japanese manufacturer Yanmar to produce compact track loaders in the U.S.
The companies announced today that Yanmar will manufacture Landcros-branded CTLs at its Grand Rapids, Minnesota, plant.
Hitachi says it plans to begin selling the Landcros loaders in Fall 2027.
Yanmar has released a new line of compact track loaders this year, featuring Yanmar engines and ASV PosiTrack undercarriages.
“The CTL supply program recognizes the strength of Yanmar's product engineering and manufacturing capabilities in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, and creates an opportunity to expand production and strengthen the operation’s long-term competitiveness,” says a joint news release.
The two companies also announced they are working on a deal on mini excavators. Under a “reciprocal OEM arrangement” Hitachi would supply compact excavators to be distributed through Yanmar’s North American dealer network.
In July, Hitachi gave a sneak peek at a Landcros-branded mini excavator set for release in the first half of 2027 in North America. The four next-generation models — the ZX30U-7, ZX35U-7, ZX50U-7 and ZX60US-7 — range from 3 to 6 metric tons.
Powered byBoth companies cite the growth of the North American compact equipment market and the collaboration providing opportunities for growth. They say they also to continue to discuss “a broad range of collaboration opportunities while maintaining and respecting the distinctiveness of their respective brands and sales channels.”
“We believe this collaboration represents an important opportunity to combine Yanmar’s strengths in the North American compact construction equipment market, built through our products, manufacturing expertise, and dealer network, with the strengths of Hitachi Construction Machinery to better address the needs of our customers,” said Tetsuya Yamamoto, executive vice president and representative director of Yanmar Holdings. “We see significant potential for further market expansion through the mutual supply of products beyond CTLs, and we are confident that this collaboration will enable us to deliver even greater value to our customers and dealers.”
Added Masafumi Senzaki, president and executive officer of Hitachi Construction Machinery:
“North America’s CTL market exceeds 100,000 units in annual demand, making it the largest segment of the compact equipment market. It is especially meaningful to us to offer customers CTLs — a segment with strong growth prospects — under Landcros, our new corporate brand, beginning in April 2027. Under the open strategy set out in our medium-term management plan, Landcros 2028, we believe that co-creating new businesses and value with our partners and growing together is central to Landcros.”
Both compact track loaders and mini excavators are the top-selling categories of construction equipment in the U.S.
CTLs rank No. 1 at nearly 57,000 new financed units sold from July 2025 to June 2026, according to EDA.
Mini excavators come in second, with more than 32,500 new financed units sold from June 1, 2025, to May 31, 2026.
(EDA is owned by Fusable, which also owns Equipment World.)
