JCB CEO John Patterson said at the Intermat exhibition in Paris this week that the UK company had invested in boosting production around the globe.

He said JCB made the investment to ensure the company capitalised on "strong global demand" for construction equipment.

"An increasing level of JCB's production now comes from manufacturing plants outside the UK," a JCB statement said. Patterson did not disclose the investment amount.

JCB had just completed its third plant in India, which will manufacture excavators and compaction machines. It will be the first time JCB Vibromax equipment is manufactured outside Germany. JCB took over Vibromax in September 2005 (Forkliftaction.com News #218).

In China, a new plant near Shanghai, producing backhoe loaders and small midi excavators, had just been completed.

"We are a very different company to the JCB of five years ago," Patterson said. "In 2001 we manufactured 120 products, today that number is 257. We made 26,000 machines in 2001 and that number has jumped to 45,000 [in 2005]."

At Intermat Paris, the telehandler manufacturer displayed 29 new products and exhibited the JCB Vibromax range to the world market for the first time.

Family-run and privately-owned, JCB employs more than 63,000 people and has 17 plants on four continents.

Intermat, an international exhibition for the construction and building materials industry is held at the Paris-Nord Villepinte Exhibition Centre from April 24-29.