Hitachi Construction Machinery (Europe)NV (HCME) is a subsidiary of Hitachi Construction Machinery Co.,Ltd. (HCM) and was established in 1972 in Oosterhout, The Netherlands. It is responsible for the manufacture, sales and marketing of Hitachi construction equipment throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
In 1968, Hitachi appointed Hovers Constructie NV in Tilburg as exclusive importer of Hitachi's range of construction equipment in the Benelux. In the 1970s the company launched a number of crawler cranes designed locally but had appeal throughout the world.
In 1972 Hovers Constructie NV went out of business. To continue support of existing customer, HMCE was incorporated on April 1, 1972, as the first foreign branch of HCM.
With its brief opened to cover Africa and the Middle East, in 1981 the company opened a parts Distribution Center. In 1986 the production partnership between Fiat and Hitachi began, with the original plan to build a limited range of Hitachi crawler excavators in Fiat's factory in San Mauro, Turin, Italy.
In the 1990s, HCME increased production at Oosterhout, starting to produce mini excavators, which with an extension of coverage into Russia lead to a trebling of production volumes. In October 1998, Euclid and Hitachi agreed a distribution partnership. This resulted in a new part distribution centre being opened at Oosterhout in April 2000, so that HMCE could take over the exclusive distribution for Euclid dump trucks parts.
In March 2001, Hitachi and Fiat terminated their joint venture relationship. The factory moved to its current site (also in Oosterhout) three years later, when HCME further expanded its operations. In 2002, the Zaxis mini excavator range was introduced to the plant. In the same year, HCME headquarters, including a factory for the construction of medium excavators and a Training and Demonstration Centre, was established in Amsterdam. A wing was added to the existing factory and a new production plant built alongside it in 2006. Successful operations at its European factories are allowing HCME to fulfil its business strategy and increase market share in each of its key markets. The company’s mission to ‘think global, act local’ is reflected in its focus on customer needs and the Hitachi brand values associated with innovation and technology.