JCB hopes £110m investment provides the X factor

A £110m investment in the latest range of excavators by JCB is designed to unearth more success for the Staffordshire group.

Its X series – named because it is the tenth series since the first tracked excavator was made in 1965 – has been launched and is now on its way to customers around the world.

JCB Chairman Lord Bamford and his son George at the X Series launch

The Uttoxeter-built range is the result of four years of development and will be competing in a market segment where almost 190,000 machines are sold every year.

Group chief executive Graeme Macdonald added: “This is a massive investment and underlines just how serious JCB is in building its presence in the tracked excavator sector.”

JCB is one of the country’s largest exporters, with around 80% of its £2.6bn annual sales heading overseas. Its most recent accounts, for 2016, showed pre-tax profits of £165m.

The group employs more than 9,000 people at its 22 plants around the world.