Sales of excavators >12t: the growing weight of the Paris Metropolitan Area

Sales of excavators >12t in the Paris Metropolitan Area continued to expand fast over the first four months 2018: +56% compared to the same period last year. The market share of the Paris Metropolitan Area represents 20% of the total sales. In 2017, it was 12% only.

This is directly linked to the actual largest construction project for public transportation in Europe called the Grand Paris Express. Through this project, 200 kilometers of subway lines are right now being built. Apart from the pure transportation issue in the city, the project also aims to connect the smaller cities around the center with each other. With it will come new homes and many non-residential buildings. As a reminder, the Grand Paris project is estimated to cost 35 billion euros over the next 10 years. This year, it is expected to represent 8% of the total civil engineering activity.

This project only just started last year. Many tunnels are under construction already. Other tunnels will also be launched in the coming quarters. A lot of rocks and soil need to be excavated. For these big works, heavy excavators are used in priority.