HD Construction Equipment and Manitou Building a Bigger Compact Machinery Business
HD Construction Equipment and Manitou Group have agreed to exchange compact construction equipment across their respective product portfolios, creating a cross-distribution arrangement that gives both manufacturers a faster route to broaden their machinery ranges.
For HD Construction Equipment, the agreement carries an ambitious target. The company wants its compact equipment business to generate approximately $950 million in sales by 2030, establishing the segment as a significant growth area alongside its Hyundai and Develon construction machinery businesses. Manitou has attached its own substantial objective to the partnership, expecting activity associated with the agreement to contribute around 5% of total group sales by 2030.
Rather than developing every machine internally, the two manufacturers will draw on each other’s engineering and production capabilities. Manitou will incorporate compact machines engineered by HD Construction Equipment into the Manitou and Gehl ranges, while HD Construction Equipment will source compact equipment from Manitou for distribution through its own international network.
Briefing
- HD Construction Equipment and Manitou Group have signed a global cross-distribution agreement covering compact construction machinery.
- Manitou and Gehl will add selected machines engineered by HD Construction Equipment to their product ranges.
- HD Construction Equipment will draw on Manitou’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities in compact equipment.
- HD Construction Equipment is targeting approximately $950 million in compact equipment sales by 2030.
- Manitou expects activity generated through the partnership to contribute around 5% of group sales by 2030.
Expanding the Compact Equipment Range
Compact equipment covers a diverse customer base across construction, rental, landscaping, agriculture and utilities. Developing a competitive range across multiple machine families requires engineering programmes, tooling, manufacturing capacity, attachments, dealer training, parts inventories and long-term aftersales support.
Selective cooperation can avoid duplicating some of that investment. Manufacturers have long used OEM supply agreements and shared platforms to fill particular positions in their ranges, but the reciprocal nature and stated scale of the HD Construction Equipment and Manitou arrangement make it more substantial than simply sourcing an isolated machine.
Manitou already has an established compact machinery presence, particularly through its Gehl brand, alongside its larger business in telehandlers, access equipment and material handling. The group operates through more than 800 dealers worldwide and generated โฌ2.56 billion in revenue during 2025, with construction accounting for 67% of sales.
HD Construction Equipment brings a different manufacturing footprint and product base. Formed at the beginning of 2026 through the integration of the HD Hyundai Group’s construction equipment operations, it operates Hyundai and Develon as separate equipment brands under a common organisation.
Two Brands and Two Dealer Networks
Under the agreement, Manitou will add product lines engineered by HD Construction Equipment to its compact range and market them internationally under the Manitou and Gehl brands. Manitou’s dealer network will provide the associated customer support and services.
HD Construction Equipment will move in the opposite direction, drawing on Manitou’s compact equipment engineering and manufacturing capabilities to extend the machinery available through its own distribution network. The companies have not disclosed the individual models involved, production volumes, manufacturing locations or timetable for introducing the expanded ranges.
The scale of their 2030 targets gives some indication of the intended commercial reach. HD Construction Equipment plans to expand production and improve product quality and cost competitiveness as it develops the compact business, with $950 million in segment sales targeted by the end of the decade.
Manitou expects activity associated with the agreement to account for around 5% of its total sales by 2030. The group recorded โฌ2.564 billion of revenue in 2025, although its future sales base will determine what that percentage eventually represents in monetary terms.
Manitou’s 2030 Strategy
The agreement fits within Manitou’s LIFT strategic programme for 2026 to 2030, which includes strengthening its position in material handling and people elevation, developing customer-led innovation and reorganising operations around Europe, North America and a combined Latin America, Asia-Pacific, Africa and Middle East region.
Sylvain Blaise took over as President and CEO of Manitou Group at the end of June 2026, succeeding Michel Denis, with implementation of the LIFT programme among the priorities facing the new leadership.
Blaise said the agreement โfully aligns with our strategic roadmap aimed at accelerating our growth in compact equipment ranges.โ He added that the alliance would allow Manitou to expand its product offering while delivering additional value to its dealer network and customers.
The selective quotation avoids an awkward grammatical break in the company’s supplied statement while preserving Blaise’s words unchanged.
HD Construction Equipment Builds its Compact Business
For HD Construction Equipment, the agreement comes during the first year of its new corporate structure. The company was launched on 1 January 2026 by bringing together the former HD Hyundai Construction Equipment and HD Hyundai Infracore construction equipment operations, with Hyundai and Develon continuing as distinct machinery brands.
Compact equipment reaches a particularly broad customer base and is important to rental fleets, smaller contractors and specialist applications as well as larger construction businesses. A wider catalogue also gives dealers greater scope to supply different machine categories to existing customers.
Cross-distribution provides HD Construction Equipment with a route to broaden that offering without independently developing every additional platform.
Jaeyoung Moon, President and CEO of HD Construction Equipment, said: โThis partnership is more than just enhancing our product lines; it opens up important new growth opportunities through significant market expansion. By bringing together our strengths, we will boost the competitiveness of our compact products and enhance our global presence.โ
Industrial Cooperation Behind the Brands
The longer-term interest lies in how deeply the relationship extends beyond cross-distribution. The companies explicitly refer to engineering and manufacturing capabilities as part of the arrangement, while HD Construction Equipment has linked its compact growth plans to higher production volumes, product quality and cost competitiveness.
Shared platforms and manufacturing can spread engineering and tooling costs across greater volumes, but the economics will depend on which machines are exchanged, where they are produced and how they are positioned within each manufacturer’s range. Manitou and Gehl already serve customers with distinct brand identities, while HD Construction Equipment continues to operate Hyundai and Develon separately.
That creates practical questions around specifications, attachments, parts, service and differentiation between machines that may share an engineering or manufacturing origin. Neither company has yet provided enough detail to establish how far platform sharing, component commonality or manufacturing integration will extend.
For dealers, rental businesses and equipment buyers, the next significant information will be considerably more tangible: which machines each manufacturer will contribute, where they will be sold and when they will begin arriving in dealer yards.
Key Industry Questions
- What have HD Construction Equipment and Manitou Group agreed?ย They have signed a cross-distribution partnership covering compact construction equipment. Each company will add selected machines or product lines originating from the other to its own offering.
- Will HD Construction Equipment machines be sold as Manitou equipment?ย Selected product lines engineered by HD Construction Equipment will be marketed through Manitou Group’s network under the Manitou and Gehl brands.
- What will HD Construction Equipment receive from Manitou?ย HD Construction Equipment will use Manitou’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities in compact equipment to broaden the range offered through its own global distribution network.
- Which compact machines are included?ย The companies have not yet published a complete model-by-model list of the machines covered by the agreement.
- How large does HD Construction Equipment expect the compact business to become?ย HD Construction Equipment is targeting approximately $950 million in compact equipment sales by 2030.
- How important could the agreement become to Manitou?ย Manitou says activity arising from the partnership is intended to contribute around 5% of total group sales by 2030.
- Will Hyundai and Develon remain separate brands?ย HD Construction Equipment has maintained Hyundai and Develon as distinct construction equipment brands following the integration of the group’s construction machinery operations.
- Does the agreement involve manufacturing as well as distribution?ย The announcements refer to engineering and manufacturing capabilities as well as cross-distribution, although detailed production arrangements and individual manufacturing locations have not yet been disclosed.
Strategic Takeaways
- Cross-distribution allows both manufacturers to expand their compact ranges without independently developing every machine family.
- HD Construction Equipment’s $950 million target places compact machinery firmly within its longer-term growth plans.
- Manitou’s 5% sales objective indicates that the partnership is expected to become material to its own business.
- Existing dealer and service networks provide both companies with established routes to market for additional machines.
- Model allocation, production responsibilities and product differentiation remain the important unanswered parts of the agreement.
