In North America, the Bobcat name has been a byword for construction equipment in general, and skid-steer loaders in particular, for more than 60 years. In that time its line of machines has grown to include crawler excavators, mini excavators, compact tracked loaders and telescopic handlers, with manufacturing facilities in three continents and a global dealer network covering thousands of individual locations including several hundred in North America alone. After undergoing various changes of ownership since its foundation as EG Melroe & Sons in 1947, the company became part of the Doosan Infracore company of South Korea following a transaction worth US4.9 billion. 

The North American operation, which is headquartered in West Fargo, North Dakota, is of particular significance to Bobcat’s global standing at this point in time. Between 2019 and 2023, sales in the US and Canada almost doubled, driving a similar outcome in the company’s net profit levels during those five years and resulting in a significant increase in operating margin. In 2023, Bobcat’s North American sales constituted almost three-quarters of global revenues. 

In parallel with the upsurge in sales, Bobcat has spent the past decade committing to a multi-million series of investments in manufacturing for the North American continent. It now has six major US production sites employing more than 3,000 people, with actual or planned expansion since 2019 exceeding one billion ft2 of space. This is a sharp contrast to the events of the 2009 global financial crisis, when Bobcat was forced to close its plant in Bismarck, North Dakota, though it was eventually reopened in 2012. 

While this report understandably focuses on Bobcat’s operations in the US and Canada, it also covers developments in the rest of the world.  

These notably include Europe, where the plant at Dobřìš in Czechia is the company’s manufacturing headquarters for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Europe also includes the Pontchâteau facility in France, which has been home to Bobcat’s telescopic handler production for the US market since Bobcat’s then-parent company bought out FDI Sambron in 2000 and turned it into Bobcat France. 

However, Bobcat is also active in Asia and South America and full details of sales in those areas are provided in this report