JCB posts £5.7B in sales, opens $1B Texas plant amid leadership change
What's the deal? JCBDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → reported 2025 sales turnover of £5.7 billion, profit before tax of £642 million and machine sales of 113,498 units, as the family-owned construction equipment maker set out plans for new production capacity, hydrogen technology and a leadership handover. The British company said it gained global market share despite flat demand in North America and a 12% contraction in India.
Why now? The results follow JCB's 80th birthday and come as it prepares its next growth phase. The company remained debt-free with no net borrowings, giving it room to invest in capacity, technology and its workforce.
What's the endgame? JCB is expanding on two fronts. A £100 million transformation of its Staffordshire headquarters in Rocester includes a £60 million automated powder paint plant and a shop-floor overhaul the company says will help secure more than 8,000 UK jobs.
Where's it expanding? JCB's new $1 billion factory in San Antonio, Texas, opens next month. At one million square feet, it will be the company's largest factory worldwide, producing Loadall telescopic handlers and access equipment for North America — the world's largest construction equipment market — and is expected to create 1,500 jobs over five years.
The leadership shift: George Bamford will become joint chairman alongside his father, Lord Bamford, the first change at the top in more than 50 years. "We have never been a company that stands still, and these investments will ensure JCB is well placed to seize the opportunities ahead," Lord Bamford said.
JCB's £100 million hydrogen combustion programme has now moved into production, making it the first construction equipment maker to bring a fully approved hydrogen-fuelled combustion engine to market. The technology recently powered the Hydromax to 406.320mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, making it the fastest hydrogen-powered vehicle and more than doubling the previous hydrogen combustion record.
The signal: JCB is betting on physical capacity and alternative power at once, spreading manufacturing across the UK and US while pushing hydrogen as a path beyond diesel. The debt-free balance sheet and market-share gains give it a rare cushion to invest through an uncertain construction cycle.
Read more: constructionmachinerymenews.com
Image credit: Kitmondo.com
