Historical Milestones of Tractors Malaysia

The journey started in 1929, when Sime Darby acquired Sarawak Trading Company which held the franchise for Caterpillar equipment. Back then, Sime Darby was still a young business entity established 19 years earlier in Malacca to manage 500 acres of plantation. The Caterpillar franchise gave the company an opportunity to venture into heavy equipment business. At the time, the company brought in equipment mainly to provide support and service in oil exploration activities. The development of the logging industry, however, saw Caterpillar equipment being used for opening trails making, log skidding, loading and stacking, and power generation in the timber camps. Post World War Two saw an increased utilisation of heavy equipment in various industries as part of the global paradigm change towards modernisation and mechanisation of labour force. To tap into the potential growth, Tractors & Heavy Equipment Division was established by Sime Darby in 1950 to focus on sales and services for the heavy equipment industry while diversifying its business. Within seven years, Tractors & Heavy Equipment Division managed to expand its Cat dealership business to Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Christmas Island. It was a breakthrough that established Tractors Malaysia as one the premier heavy equipment distributors in Malaysia and Brunei today. Today, Tractors Malaysia’s Caterpillar dealership under Sime Darby Industrial Sdn Bhd forms part of the Sime Darby Industrial Division, a core division of the Sime Darby Group. Sime Darby Industrial covers the Asia Pacific region with heavy equipment operations in Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, China, Christmas Island, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand. In Malaysia, Tractors Malaysia offers a comprehensive list of heavy equipment and services, ranging from the sales of new machines, engines and used equipment to after sales support and rental equipment through its nationwide network of 17 branches and four depots. Looking back through the history, Caterpillar Inc., was just four years older than Tractors Malaysia when it was established in 1925 with the merger of The Holt Manufacturing Company and C L Best Tractor Co. This makes the Tractors Malaysia Caterpillar dealership one of the oldest Cat dealers in Asia.