Following a trend across the industry, Komatsu Australia has unveiled a new equipment rental business, offering a fleet of more than 200 Komatsu mining. construction and utility machines throughout Australia’s eastern seaboard plus New Zealand. According to Geoff Pisani, Komatsu Rental’s National Rental Manager, the business is now well established in these market regions, having shown strong growth since its initial start in mid-2013 with a relatively small fleet.

“Since then, we have grown considerably, and as of May 2015, we have over 200 machines in the Komatsu Rental fleet, backed by a dedicated rental team of 11 people.” Pisani said Komatsu Rental offered a number of advantages compared with other players in the market. “This is not just another finance solution with ownership responsibilities and balloon payments at the end of a lease period, “ he said. “And as the only national OEM-backed rental operator, Komatsu Rental customers get all the advantages of Komatsu machine owners including access to our KOMTRAX and KOWA machine management reporting systems, and complete integration with our technical and service operations. That means Komatsu Rental customers are able to enjoy the same level of support and peace of mind that is available to a Komatsu machine owner.”

Pisani said the equipment rental business had tremendous growth potential for Komatsu. “We see it growing very strongly over the next few years, with Australia and New Zealand on track to follow major overseas markets, including the US, Japan and Britain. These markets have seen sales to the construction equipment rental sector grow rapidly over the past 15-20 years,” he said. “At Komatsu Rental we are determined to be a key player in this growing market segment, which is reflecting some significant changes happening in the industry.”

“Much of the demand for Komatsu Rental equipment is coming from our loyal Komatsu customers, who are keen to rent the latest quality, low-hour equipment from us, and to receive the full service and technical support that we offer all our customers,” he said. “Previously, if a Komatsu customer needed a machine to rent for a short-term project, they were forced to rent from another supplier. Now, Komatsu Rental can offer them a rental solution with quality low-hour Komatsu equipment.”

However, Pisani said demand was not just coming from Komatsu’s existing customers. “Many other contractors and plant hire companies today have limited access to capital, so the rental option is very attractive to them. There is also the changing demands of the major project environment, where the major contractors no longer own all of their equipment, instead engaging plant hirers and subcontractors – who in turn can see the advantages of renting quality low-hour equipment during the term of their project. We see many opportunities supporting plant hire companies – many of whom are also our customers – who need to supplement their fleets to meet ever-changing project demands. Some customers see us in that role, others see us as an opportunity to grow their businesses with no capital outlays, so they get the latest equipment technology without any maintenance or upfront costs.”

Pisani said this also gave them the flexibility to balance their fleet profile with the right machine as and when they need it, while retaining their clients’ business. “These days, major customers are preserving their capital for fixed plant and infrastructure and are increasingly looking to rental as a flexible solution to supplement their existing mobile fleet, especially during periods of increased production.”

Komatsu Rental operations in Australia are primarily based in the Eastern States, with dedicated Rental branch locations in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Komatsu Rental has also started operation in New Zealand, from its Auckland Branch. Local supply and servicing will be available through Komatsu Australia’s wide support network throughout Australia and New Zealand. Komatsu Rental has also appointed a new team of Rental Business Development Managers in all four regions, all with specialist backgrounds in Equipment Rental, providing a vast amount of experience in rental. Komatsu Rental’s product line-up includes the following equipment:

• Excavators from 5.5 to 85 t, including hybrid excavators – and soon to include Komatsu-branded hydraulic breakers, as well as a full range of attachments.
• Wheel loaders from WA250PZ-6 to WA600-6
• Rigid dump trucks from HD405-7 to HD605-7EO
• Articulated dump trucks from HM300-2 to HM400-2
• Dozers from D51EX-22 to D275A-5
• Graders GD555-5 and GD655-5.
• Backhoes

All dozers and graders are “machine control ready” able to take a range of 2D and 3D machine control and GPS systems.