 The GTH-5021 R rotator model is the first Genie telehandler to be sold to the Middle East. |
Genie has delivered one of the tallest boom lifts, the Genie SX-180, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is the first SX-180 for the kingdom.
The boom lift, which has been delivered to rental customers in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Russia, makes its Arabian debut at the rental yard Zoom Al Andalus Trading & CO. LLC Based in Al Khobar.
Farid Jaber, company consultant for Zoom Al Andalus Trading & Co, says one of the machine's most significant benefits is its ability to be driven at full height at a steady 0.2 mph (0.3 km/h).
"We are extremely excited to receive this new industry-leading super boom, and are very proud to be the first one in Saudi Arabia to own one.
"This working height is demanded at steel constructions, maintenance and for power plants because our applications get higher and higher in this region," Jaber says.
Separately, Genie has also delivered its first telescopic handler to the Middle East. An unnamed Qatari rental firm has become the region's first owner of a Genie telehandler. The sale of the GTH-5021 R rotator model to the Qatari rental operator marks the first of other orders in the region for Genie.
Sharbel Kordahi, Middle East general manager of Genie parent Terex Aerial Work Platforms, tells
Plant, Machinery, Vehicles Middle East that there are deliveries slated for Saudi Arabia in May; and at the end of June, the company expects to send two more telehandlers to the kingdom.
Kordahi believes that the rotator models are the key to Genie's efforts to tap into the Middle East's telehandler market.
"All of a sudden, we've noticed that customers in this region are paying particular attention to the rotator segment, which was never the case historically," he says.
"The Middle East has always been a fixed telehandler market; very traditional. Now, we see more and more end users talking about rotator units, and about the benefits that these models have to offer. This is good news for us because it means we're not so much in direct competition with major players like JCB, Caterpillar and Bobcat."