Kubota Celebrates Award Double For Wheeled Models
Kubota Corporation and Liebherr Group have been recognised twice for the design of their new series of wheeled excavators. The two machines have picked up the iF Design Award and the highest accolade of the Red Dot Design Award, the Red Dot: Best of the Best.
For more than 70 years the iF Design Awards has set the standard for outstanding global design, celebrating designers who challenge convention, rethink systems and transform design leadership. The awards include numerous categories, including vehicles and machinery, sports and outdoor activities, leisure and lifestyle.
The Red Dot Design Award, also celebrating more than 70 years in 2026, seeks excellence in the areas of product design, communication design and design concepts. The wheeled excavator series was recognised for bringing together powerful technology in limited space, through a holistic design approach. The result is a range of powerful machines designed for a variety of applications in the construction sector.
The two excavators, the 9-tonne KW095 and the 11-tonne KW115, are built in cooperation with Liebherr, at the company’s production site in Kirchdorf an der Iller, in Germany. The facility produces four machines in total, the two Kubotas and Liebherr’s own A909 Compact and 911 Compact wheeled excavators. These are the first Liebherr models to be powered by the latest Kubota diesel engines.
Through this strategic partnership, the two companies are combining their expertise to create forward-looking solutions, that set new standards and offer added value to their customers. As part of this partnership, the two companies benefit from each other’s expertise: the proven quality of Liebherr’s wheeled excavators and the high-performance engine from the Japanese Kubota Corporation. This collaboration is a first for both companies. For the first time, Liebherr is offering two wheeled excavators in the 9- and 11-tonne classes, whilst Kubota has added wheeled excavators to its range for the first time with these two models.
Hironori Watanabe, Deputy General Manager Construction Equipment Division Kubota Corporation Japan and Keigo Okamoto President Construction Equipment Business Unit Kubota Europe, recently visited the site in Kirchdorf to see the first Kubota machines in production. To mark the occasion, they were provided with a symbolic key and the two design certificates, by two Liebherr Managing Directors, Rudolf Arnold, Sales and Service, and Matthias Zettler, Finance and Admin.
Kubota dealers in the UK have been undergoing product training on the new KW095 and KW115 wheeled machines, in readyiness for the first customer machines that are arriving now.