THIS IS HOW THE LEGENDARY BOBCAT MACHINES GOT THEIR NAME

Everyone involved in the construction and heavy machinery industry knows the Bobcat brand, and not just for its signature logo, too. The story behind the company dates back to 1958 when the Melroe Manufacturing Company, located in North Dakota, USA, decided to start a new endeavor and soon they became the owner of the production rights for the Keller Loader, which was a small three-wheel machine. The engineers at Melroe decided to develop the machine and created a new and improved design. Their effort resulted in the M400 – a four-wheel drive machine, introduced in 1960, which happened to be the first skid-steer wheel loader in the world. Little did they know, this machine would pave the road to a whole new industry - the compact equipment segment.

THE BIRTH OF A LEGEND

The improved version of the machine was introduced a couple of years later. The M440 was called a ‘Bobcat’ for the first time. The name suggestion came from a Melroe associate who saw the connection between the animal’s agility, speed and toughness and the characteristics of the machine. The bobcat is able to turn 180°while running at maximum speed, which is a striking similarity to the wheel loader’s capabilities. This was the birth of the Bobcat brand. The M444 model replaced the existing one in the following year and it was launched on the European market.

The distinctive cathead logo we all know today was introduced in 1977 by Melroe.

Bobcat decided to enter the excavator market in the 80s, and by 1988 the first two models were production-ready. The company was actually the only one to produce excavators in North America for 25 years in a row.

All the products were developed and added to the company portfolio one at a time, and the main factor for their existence was the company’s progressive expansion to the EMEA region (Europe, the Middle East, Africa). This was crucial for the company’s rapid growth and Bobcat became the biggest producer of compact equipment in the world.

The EMEA region definitely played a huge role in the company’s growth, as it allowed them to further develop the brand by creating an integrated structure in Europe. This asset allowed Bobcat engineers to be able to define and create all the products, machines and services that corresponded perfectly with the requirements of all EMEA markets. The company was and still is focused on customer satisfaction.

THE NEW PLANT

All of the effort in this direction eventually resulted into a major step for the company – a new Bobcat production facility was opened outside of the U.S. for the first time in Bobcat’s history. The plant was set up in the center of the EMEA region – in the town of Dobris, located south of Prague in the Czech Republic. The facility which assembles telehandlers in the Loire-Atlantique region France and this new plant in Dobris really improved Bobcat’s presence in Europe and helped the company to further develop its design and procurement. The two plants enable the company to produce locally more than 80% of the machines they sell at all the EMEA markets.

The company has been going strong since it was established and the Bobcat loaders can be seen all around the world. There are a lot more than a million of them made for 60 years of production. The Bobcat loader transformed the world and became an icon, not to mention making the company highly successful – it never really stopped growing. New products and features have been introduced and added to the company portfolio over the years. Bobcat now offers a lot more than just the signature skid-steer loader. The product range includes compact excavators, track and wheel loaders (skid-steer and all-wheel steer versions are available), backhoe loaders, telehandlers, compact rotary telescopics and a number of attachments and option for optimizing these machines’ capabilities.

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More info at: https://www.bobcat.com/eu