Liebherr delivers 50,000th wheel loader

Liebherr has seen 50,000th wheel loader – an L 566 XPower painted in custom livery for its German customer Geiger Unternehmensgruppe – roll off the production line at Liebherr-Werk Bischofshofen, and marked the anniversary of its XPower series wheel loaders.

Geiger will use the L 566 XPower to transports material, loads lorries and dumpers, and assist in clearing a vast armour stone sorting system at the company’s quarry in Southern Germany.

“The anniversary of the L 566 XPower wheel loader is, like all XPower series models, a technological milestone,” stated Martin Gschwend, managing sales director at Liebherr-Werk Bischofshofen.

“Already over 1,000 of the 50,000 Liebherr wheel loaders feature XPower generation technology. The positive experience our customers are having with these machines demonstrates that we have been right to invest in durability and performance as part of the XPower developments.”

Liebherr has been developing its wheel loader range for decades, delivering its first prototypes, named ‘Elefant’ and ‘Mammut’, in the 1950s, followed by the 'LSL 1500’ in the 1960s.

On the basis of this experience and ongoing development during the 1970s, Liebherr then began the series production of its first hydrostatic driveline wheel loader models, the L 531 and L 541, in 1983.

By 1989, the wheel loader range already consisted of seven models, and with the L 522, Liebherr was the first manufacturer to showcase a wheel loader with plastic panelling, which it did at Bauma 1992.

Liebherr once again set a technological milestone at Bauma 2007, with the launch of the L 586, the world’s largest wheel loader with hydrostatic driveline.

The manufacturer then launched its XPower wheel loaders, combining efficiency, power, durability and convenience with guaranteed fuel savings, in November 2015.

Pius Geiger, managing partner at Geiger, commented: “We have known Liebherr as a reliable partner for many years. Across all management levels we value this trust-based, active partnership that has evolved over the decades. Congratulations to Liebherr on the 50,000th wheel loader!”