HD Hyundai Infracore Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as Doosan Infracore, is a South Korean company that manufactures

construction equipment Heavy equipment, heavy machinery, earthmovers, construction vehicles, or construction equipment, refers to heavy-duty vehicles specially designed to execute construction tasks, most frequently involving earthwork operations or other large con ...

and commercial and military

engine An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power ge ...

s. It is one of the largest

manufacturers by sales revenue. Doosan Infracore was acquired by

HD Hyundai HD Hyundai Co., Ltd. () is one of the largest South Korean conglomerates engaged in shipbuilding, heavy equipment, machinery, and the petroleum industry. HD Hyundai started its shipbuilding business in a small village in Ulsan, South Korea, in ...

(former Hyundai Heavy Industries Group) in 2021.

History

Daewoo Heavy Industries

Daewoo Heavy Industries was founded in 1937 as Chosun Machine Works when Korea was under Japanese rule. After Japan's withdrawal from Korea, the company was nationalized by the government and was transformed into a public company in 1963 as Hankook Machine Industrial. In 1969, Hankook Machine was privatized after being sold to Shinjin Group. In 1975, the company began producing diesel engines with financial support from the German government and technical collaboration with

MAN SE MAN SE (abbreviation of ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg- Nürnberg'', ) was a manufacturing and engineering company based in Munich, Germany. Its primary output was commercial vehicles and diesel engines through its MAN Truck & Bus and MAN Latin ...

. However, the company was financially strapped due to the lack of domestic demand and unstable direction, and Shinjin had to sell the company back to a government-controlled bank. Then, in 1976, Daewoo Industrial and its affiliates purchased a 44.8% stake in the total share and changed the name to Daewoo Heavy Industries.

Doosan Infracore

Singapore Doosan-DX-225-LCA-excavator-01

During the

1997 Asian financial crisis The 1997 Asian financial crisis gripped much of East Asia, East and Southeast Asia during the late 1990s. The crisis began in Thailand in July 1997 before spreading to several other countries with a ripple effect, raising fears of a worldwide eco ...

, Daewoo collapsed, and its affiliates were sold to other companies. Daewoo Heavy's shareholders first approved separating the firm's shipbuilding and machinery operations into stand-alone companies,

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Hanwha Ocean Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME; ), is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung. History On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk ...

and Daewoo Heavy Industries & Machinery. In 2005,

Korea Development Bank Korea Development Bank (KDB Bank) is a South Korean state-owned development bank which aims to encourage the industrial development of South Korea. It was founded in 1954 in accordance with The Korea Development Bank Act to finance and manage ...

and Korea Asset Management Corporation chose a consortium led by

Doosan Heavy Industries Doosan Enerbility Co., Ltd., (a combination of words Energy and Sustainability) formerly known as Doosan Heavy Industries, is a heavy industrial company headquartered in Changwon, South Korea. It was established in 1962. Its business includes ...

as a prime bidder for Daewoo Heavy and officially signed a contract. After the acquisition, Daewoo Heavy was renamed Doosan Infracore. Doosan Infracore expanded the heavy equipment business by acquiring global players. In March 2007, the company acquired Yantai Yuhua Machinery, a

wheel loader A loader is a heavy equipment machine used in construction to move or load materials such as soil, rock, sand, demolition debris, etc. into or onto another type of machinery (such as a dump truck, conveyor belt, feed-hopper, or railroad car). ...

maker, for 22 million yuan. Doosan recorded South Korea's largest international acquisition by purchasing

Bobcat The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the wildcat, bay lynx, or red lynx, is one of the four extant species within the medium-sized wild cat genus '' Lynx''. Native to North America, it ranges from southern Canada through most of the c ...

and other construction equipment units from

Ingersoll Rand Ingersoll Rand Inc. is an American multinational company that provides flow creation and industrial products. The company was formed in February 2020 through the spinoff of the industrial segment of Ingersoll-Randplc (now known as Trane Technol ...

for $4.9 billion in November 2007. Doosan's European subsidiary took over Norwegian

dump trucks A dump truck, known also as a dumping truck, dump lorry or dumper lorry or a dumper for short, is used for transporting materials (such as dirt, gravel, or demolition waste) for construction as well as coal. A typical dump truck is equipped wi ...

firm

Moxy Engineering Moxy Engineering is a Norwegian manufacturer of articulated haulers (dump trucks) for off-road use in the earth moving and construction industries. Moxy was founded by the industrialist Birger Hatlebakk, who had previously founded the Glamox f ...

for €55 million in 2008.

HD Hyundai Infracore

Alike Daewoo in 1997,

Doosan Group Doosan Group () is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation. In 2009, the corporation was placed in the ''Fortune'' Global 500 index. It is the parent company of Bobcat and Škoda Power. Doosan Group is the oldest running company ...

also faced a liquidity crisis due to years of declining orders amid an economic slowdown. Doosan decided to sell a stake held by Doosan Heavy in Doosan Infracore to improve its financial structure. In 2021,

Hyundai Heavy Industries Group HD Hyundai Co., Ltd. () is one of the largest South Korean conglomerates engaged in shipbuilding, heavy equipment, machinery, and the petroleum industry. HD Hyundai started its shipbuilding business in a small village in Ulsan, South Korea, in ...

purchased a 35 percent stake in Doosan Infracore for 850 billion won. However, Doosan Infracore's 51 percent stake in Doosan Bobcat was not included as part of the sale. Hyundai Doosan Infracore changed its brand name to Develon and adopted the new corporate name HD Hyundai Infracore in 2023. The name change was in line with the parent company, Hyundai Heavy Industries' rebranding to

References

External links