More Opportunities for Rental Companies in China, Skyjack’s McDougall Tells Conference
Skyjack President Ken McDougall presented, virtually, at the International Rental Conference in Shanghai on the North American Rental Market. With the growing Chinese rental market, there’s much to learn from North American-based industry leaders like Skyjack, headquartered in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, conference organizers said.
“We’ve had our eye on the Chinese market for some time now and have seen a shift, similar to what we experienced in North America during the 1990’s, towards greater acceptance in construction rental,” McDougall said. “As a country known for their dealer networks and owned construction products, this shift – while small – provides a noticeable opportunity for rental companies to take hold in China.”
The presentation focused on the core aspects of North American Rental business including:
• Aerial fleet sizes
• Rental revenue (historical growth and current state)
• American Rental Association’s Rental Penetration Index
• Fleet age in North America
“There are noticeable differences in product composition between North America and China, and it’ll be interesting to see how those differences adapt with the growing rental market,” added McDougall. “The North American market has matured and adapted throughout times of recession, prosperity, and consolidations. We’re seeing China trend in a similar direction and it is a great market for companies like Skyjack that focus on robust materials, low-maintenance design, and maximum uptime.”
The International Rental Conference, hosted by International Rental News, hosted a combination of in-person and virtual presentations this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions on travel. The material presented was from industry-leading companies and focuses on the equipment rental industry in China and wider Asia.
“China is a very important market for us so it’s important that we do our part in ensuring a smooth growth period for our industry there,” McDougall said. “While China is its own market, I feel it is worthwhile touching on some North America trends – the good and bad. I certainly don’t believe we have all the answers, however there may lessons to be learned from the historical rental growth in North America. I am happy to share that knowledge if it helps the Chinese and the Asia market overall to prosper.”
McDougall’s presentation will be available through the conference organizers. Full information on the International Rental Conference can be found online at www.khl-irc.com/index.html.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.