Komatsu has been supplying and supporting Komatsu equipment to Australian contractors, quarries, miners, farmers and other end users since 1965 — celebrating our 50th anniversary of Australian operations in 2015.

Today we are a strong member of the worldwide Komatsu family, with sales, service, support and parts facilities throughout Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia — and able to draw on the global resources of Komatsu to ensure the ongoing success of our customers.

We are very proud of our deep engagement with the Australian community, through our dedicated management and staff, our business partners and suppliers, our support for community organisations, and of course our customers and the industry sectors they serve.

People Powered Technology: Putting our people at the heart of our business

While Komatsu is recognised as a world leader in the technology behind state-of-the-art earthmoving, mining, construction and utility equipment, above all, we realise that there’s one thing that makes a good machine a great one: people.

Our vision is to be an indispensable partner to our customers throughout Australia through our brand philosophy.

For us, the key to achieving this is by putting our employees at the heart of our business, because we know that to sustainably grow Komatsu we need the trust of our customers – trust which can only be gained through engaged employees who are both valued and respected.

People power our ideas, they drive our development, they stand behind the innovations that lead to advances like SMARTCONSTRUCTION, intelligent Machine Control, autonomous haulage systems and hybrid technology.

Our people have the knowledge to provide the service that supports the machines, through innovative fleet management systems that mean we’re proactive with our customers, backed by the support of our global family – so that we can continue helping our customers best optimise their Komatsu machines.

It’s what focuses us and what keeps our feet on the ground; it reflects our commitment to our people, our customers, our business and the communities in which we live and work.

It’s behind our commitment to making Komatsu a great place in which to work – and with which to partner.

We pride ourselves on having people who are passionate and committed about providing support to our customers that puts their business first.

We know that by being an integral partner in their business we earn their trust and build a long term relationship that is always more beneficial than quick fixes.

Komatsu’s approach – one that will take us and our people forward – is to redefine what success means to our customers, moving beyond the traditional supplier/customer relationship to become a valued partner for their business.

A brief history of Komatsu in Australia

In 1965, a little-known Japanese construction equipment manufacturer – but with a fast-growing reputation – began selling a range of dozers in the Australian market through a distributor.

Today that company, Komatsu, is a major supplier to the construction, quarrying and mining industries, offering a full range of some of the most innovative, advanced and productive machines on the market.

In Australia, Komatsu products were initially sold through LeTourneau Westinghouse (later to be renamed WABCO), after senior executives visited the Komatsu distributor in South Africa in April 1965 to evaluate the performance of the machines there.

As a result of this visit, a distribution agreement signed later in 1965 saw that first order placed for 12 Komatsu dozers.

In their first seven years alone, more than 500 Komatsu dozers and crawler loaders were sold to Australian customers – testament to their quality and reputation for reliability and productivity.

From the late 1970s, Komatsu began rapidly expanding its range of construction and mining equipment, adding dump trucks and scrapers to its existing lines of dozers, wheel loaders and crawler loaders.

This also saw a move to a national dealer network in 1980.

In addition to our existing ranges of dozers and loaders, by this time Komatsu had developed its own in-house lines of scrapers, dump trucks, graders and excavators.

In 1993, Komatsu consolidated its Australian distribution network under a single operation as NS Komatsu, enabling it to embark on a program of expanding and growing the range of products, services and support infrastructure that still forms the core of our offerings today.

Eight years later in 2001, the present Komatsu Australia Pty Ltd company structure was set up, and shortly after expanded its operations to include New Zealand and New Caledonia.

The most significant recent chapter in our history came about with the acquisition of Joy Global in April 2017 to form a completely new entity, Komatsu Mining Corporation (KMC).

This development means that included in our line-up we now have one of the most comprehensive ranges of mining equipment on the market, with our customers now having access to a highly complementary range of products, across mining (surface and underground), construction, quarrying, infrastructure and more.

In Australia, Komatsu Australia and KMC have formed a fully integrated organisation, One Komatsu, combining the two organisations into a single entity.

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