JCB has broken ground on a USD500 million factory in Texas, the British equipment maker’s biggest-ever investment.

The 720,000 sq. ft (67,000 sqm) factory will be the company’s second largest plant, after its headquarters in the United Kingdom.

The factory will make aerial access equipment, with production of Loadall telescopic handlers scheduled to start in 2026.

“The Loadall telescopic handler is JCB’s biggest selling product in North America and it is also the single largest market for aerial access equipment worldwide, and therefore, it makes great sense to build these two ranges here,” says Richard Fox-Marrs, chief executive of JCB North America.

JCB chairman Lord Anthony Bamford says his company has been growing its share of the North American market, the world’s biggest construction equipment market, for some time.

“The time is now right to invest in our manufacturing capacity in North America, where we already have one factory,” he says.

The new facility will manufacture machines for customers specifically in North America. 

“Today's groundbreaking marks a major milestone in JCB's journey that will create 1,500 good-paying jobs for hardworking Texans in Bexar County and bring hundreds of millions of new capital investment to San Antonio and beyond,” says Texas Governor Greg Abbott.

JCB has 22 factories around the world, including 11 in the UK, seven in India and others in Brazil and China. 

Other big equipment makers have recently announced multi-million investments in the US, including Caterpillar, which will spend USD90 million to upgrade two plants in Texas, and Toyota Material Handling, which will spend nearly USD100 million to build a new electric forklift manufacturing plant in Indiana.