Komatsu America Corp., a leading global heavy equipment manufacturer, announces it was named a 2017 winner in EquipmentWatch’s annual Highest Retained Value awards program, the industry’s only award based on residual values for heavy equipment.
Komatsu’s WA320 wheel loader, GD655 motor grader and BX50 forklift lines are the model series projected to retain the highest percentage of original value after 5 years, among all competitors in their respective categories.
“Our customers choose Komatsu products because they want a machine that will last, run problem-free and retain its value over the long haul,” says Josh Alters, Senior Manager, Remarketing, for Komatsu America. “These awards are a team win. From engineering and design, to manufacturing, to our distributors who keep these machines on-the-job with regular maintenance, everyone at Komatsu contributes to the value of our products. We’re looking forward to more Komatsu machines making this list next year.”
“The Highest Retained Value Award is indicative of excellence across a manufacturing organization,” says Garrett Schemmel, Vice President of EquipmentWatch. “Product quality has the most obvious impact on an asset’s performance on the secondary market, but residual values are also highly impacted by brand affinity and fair original pricing. A manufacturer must excel on all three fronts in order to gain recognition as a Highest Retained Value Award winner.”
To create the 2017 Highest Retained Value Awards, EquipmentWatch analysts considered 12,536 models in their valuation database which were then narrowed down to 156 series from 36 brands. Once the finalists were set, residual values were calculated at the series level by leveraging a database covering more than $412B in market activity to identify the winner in each category.
