This report concerns the market in France for mini excavators capable of being turned through 360 degrees. The machines may be mounted on tracks or wheels but 99 per cent is on rubber tracks and around one per cent or less on steel tracks. They range in weight from 0.8 tonnes to 6.0 tonnes. The industry considers machines below 0.8 tonnes to be micro excavators, whilst units in the 6 and 8 tonne categories are commonly referred to as midi excavators. Although they form the top of certain suppliers' ranges, they are excluded from this report.

The progress of larger machines has become entangled with the development of zero tailswing mini excavators. These are machines with a structure in the cab and upper works that does not exceed the width of the tracks. The tail therefore swings within a circle no larger than the width of the tracks. Beyond the concept of zero tailswing comes the redesigning of the boom into an offset configuration, creating the ultranarrow mini excavator. This approach makes the machine even narrower and is popular in Japan, where larger mini excavators still must swing loaded buckets within the width of half a narrow road.

This report is an update of the study Off-Highway Research published in May 2017 and examines the changes that have taken place since then. The data in the report originates from Off-Highway Research's own in house database and from information collected during an interview programme in France undertaken in autumn 2021, which included the two local manufacturers and the leading importers and distributors.