Cat's European rental manager Andy Zuckerman moves to China

Andy Zuckerman is leaving his post as manager of Caterpillar's rental and used operations in Europe, Africa and the Middle East (EAME) to become distribution manager for SEM, Cat's Chinese subsidiary.

Mr Zuckerman's replacement is Nicolas Guigon (pictured), who was previously the EAME manager for Cat Used Equipment Services Inc. His new title is EAME rental and used equipment manager. Both men take up their new posts on 1 April.

The SEM subsidiary where Mr Zuckerman will be working is a manufacturer of wheeled loaders, motor graders and soil compactors. SEM was acquired by Cat in 2008 and is located in Qingzhou City, in eastern China, south of Beijing.

Meanwhile, Caterpillar used a press event at its UK manufacturing facility near Leicester to showcase a range of new small and mid-sized machines and to highlight its Cat Rental Store network.

David Picard, Caterpillar product support and sales operations manager for Europe, Africa, Middle East, reinforced the importance of rental in today's market; "Customers have seen a downturn and so need to avoid risk."

Asked if Caterpillar's UK and Ireland dealer, Finning UK, would establish its own Cat Rental Stores - Finning sold Hewden, its UK rental operation, in 2010 - Mr Picard said; "There are no current plans for Finning to set up a Cat Rental Store."

The product launch included E series small and medium hydraulic excavators, E series mini excavators, K series small wheeled loaders, H2 series compact wheeled loaders, C series telehandlers and F series backhoe loaders. Click here for the full story on the new products.