Komatsu Ltd. and Hitachi Construction Machinery Co. announced plans to strengthen their European marketing operations for construction machinery. This month Komatsu will centralize its marketing operations, which have been dispersed among three factories, while Hitachi Construction Machinery has taken a stake in sales agents in the U.K. and Italy.

Komatsu's three European production facilities — a hydraulic excavator factory in the U.K., a wheel loader facility in Germany and a small construction machinery plant in Italy — each have an in-house development program and, since 1996, have been in charge of sales branches and marketing. Now, the marketing functions will be consolidated at Komatsu Europe International NV, which is in charge of overseeing operations in the European region. The company hopes to increase its market share by unifying its sales strategy.

Hitachi Construction Machinery has taken a 30 percent stake in its U.K. sales agent and a 20 percent interest in its Italian agent. Last year, Hitachi dissolved a merger with a Fiat SpA construction machinery group and established new sales agents in 13 European countries.