This was despite the fact that the hungry Chinese construction sector has been stagnating since the end of 2021. The downward spiral was triggered by the crisis of the real estate group Evergrande, which had accumulated over 300 billion US dollars (US$) in debt and was unable to repay some of it. Beijing counteracted this by easing lending conditions, but was unable to reverse the trend.

The reason for the record high is the sales of OEMs in the USA. Here, the OEMs were able to achieve a sales increase of a solid 2 percent to a total of 28.6 percent of the US market share in the global total sales (the Yellow List). By contrast, the share of the Chinese market fell by 1 percent to a total of 17.2 percent.

As expected, the leading position of the US manufacturer Caterpillar (CAT) continues to top the ranking. The manufacturer sold a total of 41 billion US dollars worth of machines in one year, achieving a 16.8 percent share of the Yellow List.

The Japanese machine manufacturer Komatsu and the US-based John Deere follow in second and third place. John Deere rose by one place in the ranking, which is due to the purchase of the German-based WIRTGEN Group with the product brands WIRTGEN, VÖGELE, HAMM, LEEMANN and BENNINGHOVEN. This meant that five production plants in Germany and one each in Brazil, China and India were brought under the umbrella of John Deere.

While the Chinese manufacturers XCMG (4) and Sany (6) each fell back one place compared to the previous year, the German manufacturer Liebherr jumped to 5th place on the Yellow List with an 11.6 percent increase in turnover compared to the previous year. The rise was due to a record year in terms of sales (around €14,042 million). Over the same period, the number of employees rose to over 53,600. Liebherr invested around €634 million in research and development projects, which it believes has laid the foundation for further technical progress and business success. The company is particularly focusing on the opportunities offered by digitalization.

The British manufacturer JCB, which produces compact machines for earthworks and agriculture, has also improved its ranking (9). Founded in 1945, the company now has 22 production sites on four continents. Business in the Indian market has been particularly successful, and the company has intensified its involvement in North America.

Hitachi CM retained eighth place from the previous year. Volvo CE fell one place (7). However, in November 2024, the Swedes announced that they would be re-targeting the US market with electric vehicles (EV) as part of a consortium of Volvo CE, Atlas Copco Group and Husqvarna Construction.

Sandvik MRT, a manufacturer of mining and drilling equipment, has fallen out of the top 10; its highest ranking in 2010 was 6th place. New in 10th place, on the other hand, is the South Korean manufacturer Doosan Bobcat, whose success story began with the presentation of the world's first skid-steer loader. Doosan Bobcat's market share according to the Yellow List is 3.1 percent.