or (コマツ) () is a
Japanese company that manufactures
Construction and
Mining equipment,
Silicon wafers, lasers, and thermoelectric modules.
Its headquarters is at 2-3-6, Akasaka,
Minato-ku ,
Tokyo ,
Japan .
Its name was taken after the current city of
Komatsu, Ishikawa at the company's foundation there in
1917 . Its main plants are located in the city.
Komatsu makes the largest bulldozer in the world, the
D575 .
was started by Takeuchi Mining Industry as a subsidiary to make industrial tooks for the parent company. Komatsu eventually became large enough to sell to the public, and was spun off on
1921 -
05-13 as Komatsu Ltd.
Komatsu produced its first tractor prototype in
1932 . Through the 1930s, Komatsu also produced military tractors for the Japanese military. After
World War II , Komatsu added
Bulldozer s and
Forklift s to its line of equipment, and by
1957 was advanced enough technologically that all of its models were also using Komatsu engines.
Komatsu began exporting its products in the
1960s , looking to counteract the postwar image of Japanese products as being cheap and poorly made, and entered the U.S. market in July 1967, taking on
Caterpillar , the world's largest bulldozer maker, in its home market.
Komatsu and
Dresser Industries established Komatsu Dresser to make mining tractors and related equipment. This 50-50 ownership lasted from September
1988 to August
1994 , when Komatsu bought out Dresser's share, and Komatsu's mining products were consolidated under the name Komatsu Mining Systems in
1997 . To prevent brand name confusion during corporate changes, the name "Haulpak" is used for the product line Komatsu began with Dresser.
