The New Holland Construction Equipment plant in Lecce, Italy, last week celebrated the production of its 100,000th construction equipment machine: a 23-ton W270B wheel loader, the flagship model of the series B that became famous through its appearance in the James Bond film “Casino Royale.”

“The Lecce plant, which serves about 70 countries and exports 80 percent of its production, is a milestone in our company’s history,” said Giampiero Biglia, New Holland Construction’s market manager for Italy. “During the last few years we have invested heavily in improving the already high-quality standard of the machines produced at this plant.”

Built in the early '70s, the Lecce plant produces wheel loaders, telescopic handlers and crawler dozers. It produces 20 models of wheel loaders in almost 900 different versions, 26 models of telescopic handlers with almost 1,500 versions, and 10 models of crawler dozers in 120 versions. All this is made possible by state-of-the-art production processes, variable-mix assembly lines and a high degree of professionalism from the plant's workforce, the company says.

“Today we are also celebrating another major achievement, as our telescopic handler was named Product of the Year by the North American Construction Equipment magazine,” said Santi Cugno, Lecce plant manager.

Each year the magazine selects 100 new products it considers the best in each category for technological innovation, productivity, environmental performance and safety. The magazine rewarded the new, New Holland series M telescopic handlers, which are in their first year of distribution in the United States, for their lifting and material handling capacity.

New Holland is a global, full-line construction equipment brand, with a network of 700 dealers and more than 1,800 outlets in 100 countries. New Holland Construction Equipment is a brand of CNH Global N.V., a majority-owned subsidiary of Fiat Group.