Looking out over the Silver Lot at the Las Vegas Convention Center during CONEXPO 2014, you'd be forgiven for assuming it was reserved for China-based heavy equipment manufacturers. Giant crane booms with banners for Zoomlion and Sany loom overhead, an imposing yellow booth for Lonking sits below, and a giant robot statue made to look like a transformed Sany excavator stood guard near the entrance to the lot. But it was more than a show of strength from Chinese equipment manufacturers. Lonking announced a deal with a new company, International Construction Products, to sell their wheel loaders in America through IronPlanet, and Zoomlion announced a $20-million crane order with their U.S. distributor.
Tim Frank, the former president of the American division of China-based Sany, is now serving as chairman of ICP, which has announced plans to sell heavy equipment from China-based Lonking in North America. Rather than start a dealer network from scratch, ICP is teaming up with online equipment auction house IronPlanet to build an online store for Lonking machines. "We'll be selling both online to customers and through some traditional dealer partners," says Frank.