Doosan Bobcat Inc., a construction equipment unit of Doosan Group, said Sunday it has set up a global center in the US for business cooperation across the globe.

The Global Cooperation Center built in Minnesota will serve as the “control tower,” which will develop new products and share the company‘s business strategies with global business headquarters, Doosan Bobcat said in a statement.

The company expects the center will help enhance its price competitiveness in global markets and research & development capabilities, it said.

On the same day, Doosan Bobcat announced it will invest US$26 million in its Minnesota plant for the expansion of the small loaders and excavator attachment assembly lines.

Doosan Bobcat is 51 percent owned by Doosan Infracore Co., a leading construction heavy equipment maker in South Korea.

In 2007, Doosan Infracore acquired Bobcat and other construction equipment units from North Carolina-based Ingersoll Rand PLC for $4.9 billion.

Doosan Bobcat now has four manufacturing plants: one each in the United States, the Czech Republic, China and India. It builds compact construction equipment, such as excavators and loaders. Seventy percent of them are sold in North American markets, with 20 percent and 10 percent sold in the European and Asian markets, respectively.

This file photo provided by Doosan Bobcat shows the B900 backhoe loader moving dirt at a construction site.

By Park Ga-young and newswires (gypark@heraldcorp.com)