Flashback: the original M-400

Bobcat celebrates the 60th Anniversary of both the company and the Bobcat skid-steer loader this year.

Sixty years ago, Melroe Manufacturing Company, the forerunner to Bobcat Company, introduced a compact front-end loader that evolved quickly into the M-400, the world's first true skid-steer loader. The M-400 later adopted the Bobcat brand and its success created the global compact equipment industry we know today.

Over the last 60 years, the company has gone through many changes, but it has maintained its market leadership, claiming that one in every two skid-steer loaders sold is still a Bobcat machine.

Bobcat has also diversified its portfolio, with a full line-up of compact excavators and telehandlers.

The company notes that in the last 20 years, its operations in Europe have played a key role in its transformation. This has been enhanced by the opening of the Innovation Center in 2015 and expansion of R&D at the Pontchâteau plant in the Loire-Atlantique region in North-West France.

Last year, Bobcat marked 30 years of success in the compact excavator market, and the latest product developments using technology derived from the Innovation Center - the ground-breaking new 2 - 4 T compact excavators - will be shown for the first time at the Intermat Show in April 2018.

The Bobcat telehandler plant at Pontchâteau celebrates its 55th anniversary in 2018, as the company increases its focus on the telehandler lines with new ranges for both construction and agriculture.