Industry Focus: 2025 Excavator Market Breaks Through Adversity, Green Intelligence Reshapes the Industry Landscape（Ⅰ）
I. Market Recovery: Resonance of Domestic and Foreign Demand Drives the Industry’s Inflection Point
The start of 2025 has seen a strong rebound in China’s excavator market. According to data from the China Construction Machinery Association, domestic excavator sales surged 99.4% year-on-year in February, hitting a three-year high for the same period. This explosive growth stems from a combination of policy dividends and market cycles: the rollout of trillion-yuan additional treasury bond projects, intensified large-scale equipment renewal policies, and the entry of existing equipment (purchased between 2019 and 2022) into a period of concentrated replacement have collectively opened up demand. Notably, small excavators, driven by rigid needs in high-standard farmland construction and municipal projects, contributed the bulk of growth. Meanwhile, sales of medium and large excavators rose 51% year-on-year, reflecting a recovery in funding for mining and infrastructure projects.
The export market has also shown resilience. Despite ongoing adjustments in European and American demand, emerging markets in Africa and Southeast Asia are gaining momentum. With the Federal Reserve entering an interest rate cut cycle and the U.S. Infrastructure Act advancing, Caitong Securities predicts that the North American market will stabilize in 2025, pushing global construction machinery into a new phase of “Global resonance.”
II. Technological Revolution: Electrification and Intelligentization Restructure the Industry Ecosystem
Electrification took center stage at bauma 2025. Volvo Construction Equipment unveiled the world’s first battery-powered A30 articulated truck, Hitachi Construction Machinery showcased 8 electric excavator models covering 1.7-14 tons, and XCMG and Sany’s electrified product lines drew attention with impressive metrics: 50% higher performance and 15% lower energy consumption. Technological breakthroughs extend beyond overall machine design—Zhuzhou Gear’s high-speed electric drive slewing system, leveraging electric propulsion and energy recovery, cut energy use by over 15% and boosted efficiency by 15% in XCMG’s XE650GK hybrid mining excavator, with transmission efficiency jumping from under 50% (in traditional hydraulic systems) to 90%.
Intelligent applications are also advancing rapidly. Sany Heavy Industry’s 2025 electric excavators feature dual-variable control and electric slewing technologies, reducing energy consumption by an additional 5-8%. Their integrated thermal management system, which combines battery and air conditioning cooling, further optimizes efficiency. Built Robotics’ autonomous excavators, operating 20 hours daily on California solar farms, have increased weekly progress by 30%, with remote monitoring and automatic trenching redefining traditional construction methods. These innovations not only boost efficiency but also reduce carbon emissions in response to global green transitions—electric loaders’ penetration in ports and mines has soared from 2.1% in 2024 to 14.49% in February 2025, with cost savings exceeding 1 million yuan over a 5-year lifecycle.
