Caterpillar tops the table

Volvo is the new no. 4 in the Yellow Table, thanks to its acquisitions of Ingersoll Rand's road building equipment arm and a stake in Lingong, with clear water between it and fifth-placed Liebherr.

Hitachi stays at no. 6, while the big faller is its US joint-venture partner John Deere, which fell from no. 4 last year to no.7 on 2007 revenues. CNH and JCB are unmoved at no. 8 and no. 10 respectively, while Sandvik Mining & Construction is new to the top 10, thanks in part to its acquisition of Extec and Fintec last year.

Ingersoll Rand is missing from the Yellow Table this year, following its divestment to Volvo, along with the sale of Bobcat and its remaining construction equipment businesses to Doosan Infracore last year. Doosan, as a result, has moved up two places to no. 16 in this year's Yellow Table.

Another result of Ingersoll Rand's exit from the industry is the share of the market by US-owned manufacturers is it's lowest ever. Based on 2007 revenues, US companies had a 39.6% share of the top 50 total last year - down sharply from 45.6% last year and a high of 47.7% in the 2005 edition of the Yellow Table.

The second name missing from this year's Yellow Table is Dynapac. Fellow Swede Atlas Copco acquired the road building equipment specialist last year, which help it move up a place to no. 11 in this year's rankings.

The absence of these two companies as separate entities has of course opened the door to two new names in the Yellow Table. Telcon, an earthmoving equipment joint venture in India between Hitachi and Tata is new at no. 38, while drill rig and consumable manufacturer Boart Longyear makes its debut at no. 42.

Mergers also played a part in the biggest climb of the year. Wacker's acquisition of Neuson last year catapulted the newly formed Wacker Neuson Group up 19 places to no.30, from Neuson's position of 49 in the 2006 rankings.