JCB CEO Alan Blake (right) officially opens the new premises for Stroykomplekt.

The world's biggest JCB dealer depot has officially opened for business after a GBP6 million (USD9.6 million) investment to boost growth in one of the company's most important markets.

Stroykomplekt (SKL), the JCB dealer in Ekaterinburg, Russia's fourth-largest city and home to 1.3 million people, now has a new facility covering 3,500 sqm (37,674 sqft.) and a showroom for 25 machines. The company, which services a vast area of almost 2.7 million sqkm (1.0 million sqmi.), has seen a tenfold increase in sales for the past seven years.

JCB CEO Alan Blake, who opened the new premises, described Russia "as one of the jewels in the crown of JCB's global sales regions".

"Almost one in four machines sold in Russia is made by JCB," Blake says. "This success could not have been achieved without excellent dealers - dealers with vision, dealers who are prepared to invest and dealers with ambition. And this is what we have with Stroykomplekt."

He adds that by investing GBP6 million (USD9.6 million) in new premises, SKL has demonstrated a great ambition to grow its business. "The opening of this fantastic new building sets the standard for others to follow."

JCB sold its first machine in Russia, a backhoe loader, in 1979 as part of the lead-up to the Moscow Olympics. Today, the company sells a wide range of other equipment in the country, including tracked and wheeled excavators, telescopic handlers, mini-excavators, wheeled loading shovels and skid steer loaders.

Across Russia and the CIS, JCB's dealers have a network of 70 depots, with another six opening this year.

Separately, JCB is adopting a range of fuel-efficient Stage IIIB/Tier 4 Final engines from Kohler's Global Power Group for many of its compact machine lines.

The water-cooled Kohler Direct Injection (KDI) engines - which will be branded JCB Diesel by Kohler - meet the next stage of emissions regulations without the need for a diesel particulate filter (DPF).

A JCB 35D 4x4 Teletruk, which was unveiled at the RWM waste management show at the NEC in Birmingham, was the first machine to be fitted with the new engine. The Teletruk is JCB's award-winning telescopic forklift, which can reach forwards, enabling single-side loading and accurate placement of loads.

Alan Tolley, JCB's director of engine programmes, says the decision to partner with Kohler to develop engines for JCB compact machines was driven by the synergy in the technologies used by both companies to achieve stringent Tier 4 Final emissions legislation.

"Kohler's achievement of Tier 4 Final without the need for a bulky DPF is fully in line with our own engine strategy and allows our designers maximum flexibility when it comes to meeting machine design and packaging requirements. These highly efficient engines will offer our customers improved performance and lower fuel consumption," Tolley explains.

The European-built engines will be progressively introduced in JCB products, including midi-excavators, the Teletruk TLT35D, 406 and 409 compact wheeled loaders, the 190 and 205 skid steers and 190T and 205T compact tracked loaders, smaller 135, 155 and 175 skid steers and TM180 and TM220 articulated wheeled loading shovels.