The Liebherr conglomerate is to supply the Australian mining giant Fortescue with numerous dump trucks, excavators and bulldozers - all with purely electric drives.
For the Liebherr conglomerate, it is the biggest deal in its 75-year history: In the fall, the company's mining division signed a contract with the Australian raw materials group Fortescue for the delivery of 475 new mining machines with a volume of 2.8 billion US dollars (2.5 billion euros).
The core of the order is the delivery of 360 autonomous, battery-powered giant dump trucks; the deal also includes 55 electric excavators and 60 electric dozers - all for use in Fortescue mines in Western Australia.
Emission-free mines by 2030
Fortescue committed to electromobility years ago. The aim is for the mines to be completely emission-free by 2030. To achieve this, the vehicle fleet is now to be significantly expanded. The relevant machines will be supplied by Liebherr after the two companies launched a partnership in March 2023.
Liebherr is planning significant investments to enable the delivery of the 475 electric mining vehicles. The XL-format machines will be produced in Newport in the USA (dump trucks) and in Colmar, France (excavators).
Liebherr was founded in 1949 by Hans Liebherr in Kirchdorf an der Iller (district of Biberach), but now has its headquarters in Bulle, Switzerland. However, important production sites of the globally active group of companies are still located in Baden-Württemberg - including in Biberach, Ehingen and Bad Schussenried.
