JCB has completed production of its one millionth backhoe loader, 72 years after the first Mark One rolled off the line.
Full production started in 1954, with just 35 machines being manufactured. The company would take 35 years to produce 50,000 backhoes and 59 years for half a million machines to go to market. However, it took only 13 years for JCB to reach the next half-million milestone.
Production is now split between India, the UK and Brazil and the backhoe is reportedly the 4th most popular construction machine in the world.
Hundreds of employees converged on the JCB headquarters to celebrate the achievement and watch a procession of 16 machines from across the company’s history – from a 1954 Mark I, all the way through to a 2025 model 3CX,
Joining the celebration was Ken Harrison, a retired employee, aged 100, who joined the company in 1952 as a welder and is one of the last surviving members of the original backhoe production team.
Lord Bamford said: “I am the only person in the business now who can remember the early days when we first started to make backhoes in what was a former cheese factory in Rocester. Looking back at that time, I could never have imagined that we would make one million of these diggers after such humble beginnings.
“Looking back is a fun thing to do but it’s always been JCB’s way to look forward and I’m looking forward to the production of the next one million backhoes.”
The one millionth JCB backhoe to be produced was a 4CX model, which has been decorated in graffiti art by London-based artist and illustrator Dave Smith, and presented to Lord Bamford at today’s celebrations.
