The 60,000th crawler excavator by Liebherr-France SAS in Colmar

The 60,000th crawler excavator to be produced at the Liebherr-France SAS site in Colmar was presented on 1st March. As a model from Liebherr's latest generation of crawler excavators with an operating weight of 22 tonnes, this machine will be on show in April at the bauma trade fair in Munich and then at various Liebherr authorised dealers and sales partners in Belgium, France and Luxembourg.

Designed by Alsatian artist Jean Linnhoff

The Liebherr operator's cab remains white, while blue has been chosen as the background colour for the R 922 excavator as a reference to its country of origin, France. The illustrator and graffiti artist Jean Linnhoff from Colmar designed the panels, harmoniously combining graphical elements and design. To come up with his design, the artist spent six days working in a separate room at the Colmar site under conditions of strict secrecy.

The text "A cœur" (literally: "To heart") on both sides of the machine alludes to the collaborative partnership with the Alsace Region (Agence d'Attractivité de l'Alsace). A world map across the entire uppercarriage acts as a reminder that the crawler excavator is sold all around the world from the site in Colmar. Lastly, the company employees who contributed their expertise were also celebrated; they all wrote their name on the undercarriage.

Liebherr-France SAS: The company, founded in 1961 in Alsace, was the first Liebherr Group site in France

From mines in South Africa to marble quarries in Northern Italy, via the region of origin Alsace, to California, Canada and Indonesia: The Liebherr crawler excavator from Colmar is in use everywhere.

Liebherr-France SAS has been developing and producing crawler excavators at the historical site in Colmar since 1961. At the beginning, these machines were specially designed for earthmoving applications, while the range was later extended with the addition of machinery for the mining industry. Then in 2011, a dedicated production site with a clear separation between these two areas was established: Liebherr-Mining-Equipment Colmar SAS.

This new stage is symbolic of the company's long-term strategy and the combined expertise of this specific production site for Liebherr crawler excavators from 14 to 100 tonnes. The current model series is designed for earthmoving and mining applications, material handling, demolition work and tunnel construction.

The Liebherr Group in France currently employs around 4000 staff at various companies and production sites in the mining industry, at component suppliers, in the aerospace industry and in the construction sector.