In 1979, JCB, the large British manufacture of construction equipment, entered into a joint venture with Escorts, an India engineering conglomerate, to manufacture backhoe leaders for sale in India Escorts, held a majority 60 percent stake in the venture, and JCB 40 percent. The joint venture was a first for JCB, which historically had exported as much as two-thirds of its production from Britain to a wide range of nations.
In early 2005 JCB increased its investment in India, announcing that it would build a second factory that it would use to serve the fast-growing Indian market and it would set up another wholly owned factory in China to serve that market. There were growing rapidly, construction was booming, and JCB, then the world’s fifth-largest manufacture of construction equipment, was eager to expand its presence in order to match its global rivals, particularly Caterpillar, Komatsu and Volvo, who were also expending aggressively in these market.
By 2008 there were signs that JCB’s foreign investment was bearing fruit. The product line had been expanded from 120 machines in 2001 to over 250. JCB had 47 dealers and some 275 outlets around India, and it claimed a market share in India of 53 percent. JCB’s sales approached £1.8 billion, earnings were a record £187 million, and the company had moved up to number four in the industry, with almost 10 percent of global market share.