South Korea’s leading construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. sold a total 1,018 excavators in China last month, garnering its highest market share in the world’s second-largest economy in six years.

The company said on Wednesday that it sold 1,018 excavators in China in February, accounting for 10.5 percent. This was the third largest market share following China’s Sany Heavy Industry Co. and U.S.’s Caterpillar Inc. Doosan Infracore’s market share - which is its highest since February, 2012 - is up 1.9 percentage points from the same period a year ago and up 3.2 percentage points from a month ago.

In the January-February period, Doosan Infracore’s combined excavator sales reached 1,728 units, up 15.4 percent from the same period a year ago, which is almost double the growth of the overall market that jumped 7.9 percent over the same period.

The company’s strong performance in China largely owed to the high demand for its high-value added mid-size excavators, which accounted for the largest 15.6 percent share in the market in February.

Doosan Infracore has succeeded in increasing sales of mid-to-large sized excavator from 26 percent last year to 47 percent this year and encouraging an immediate cash payment from its customers, which has helped the company improve profitability.

Doosan Infracore attributed the sales rise in China to enhanced competitiveness of dealers, the launch of specifically tailored products for the local market and aggressive marketing using WeChat, China’s largest mobile messenger application.

Doosan Infracore has about 60,000 followers on its WeChat account, which is more than triple the number from two years ago. The accumulated number of clicks for its WeChat contents has also reached 1.4 million with social media exposure also surpassing 12 million.

An unnamed official from Doosan Infracore said that about 360 excavators have been sold so far through digital marketing such as chat application and online media, contributing to a rise in overall sales as it allows the company to find hidden demand that offline dealers may miss in the vast China market.

By Woo Je-yoon and Lee Eun-joo

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