Daewoo's new owner, Doosan Infracore, aims at lofty sales growth in North America with its completely new DX Series excavators branded Doosan Daewoo. Four models, spanning 66,000 to 105,000 pounds, should ship from Korea in April for availability in May and June.
Research and development had slowed during the years of Daewoo's restructuring. Doosan bought 51 percent of Daewoo stock early this year, bringing fresh resources to complete development and launch new excavator and wheel loader lines.
Technologies introduced to the Daewoo line with the new excavators will most certainly be necessary to draw the increase in sales the new owners have projected for the world's largest construction-equipment market. Doosan expects to take its $11-billion global construction business to $40 billion in revenue by 2010, and will focus on North American sales growth to lead the charge.
The DX Series excavators are new throughout, starting with a six-cylinder Doosan Daewoo diesel engineered to meet global environmental regulations with high-pressure common-rail fuel injection. On some models, the operator can now reverse the direction of the variable-speed, hydraulically driven radiator fan to simplify clearing debris from the cooler.
Daewoo's e-EPOS computer has been updated, and now communicates with the engine control unit and hydraulic system via a controller area network (CAN). This state-of-the-art electronic system coordinates engine and hydraulic efforts for maximum efficiency.
Operators see the information from the electronic system on a color LCD display in the cab, accessible in 14 languages. On-screen diagnostics track machine performance and help pinpoint problems. Operators can use the monitor to select auxiliary hydraulic flow rate and one-way or two-way flow to the attachment.
All of the frame structures — track frames, carbody and upper frame — have been redesigned. And the boom, stick and buckets have also been redesigned. One-piece castings reinforce the base of the boom and the center bosses where lift cylinders mount to the boom.
Preliminary specifications indicate two important things. First, each DX-Series excavator hits dig depths and lift capacity numbers very much like competitive machines of similar size. And second, Doosan Daewoo dropped right into some gaps in the competition. There are virtually no Caterpillars, Komatsus, Deeres or Hitachis within 1,500 pounds of any of the new DX machines.
The DX Series machines, plus what will likely be an enhanced factory warranty, are expected to cost dealers around 5 percent more than the Daewoo Solar machines they replace.
