South Korea's leading construction equipment maker Doosan Infracore Co. said Monday that sales of its mini-sized excavators in South Korea nearly tripled in the first nine months from a year ago.

Sales of mini-sized excavators, which refer to those under 5 tons, rose 192 percent in the January-September period from a year ago, thanks mainly to Doosan Infracore's competitive edge in customer service, the company said.

Compared with 2018, sales of mini-sized excavators increased four times in the country.

South Korea's mini-sized excavator market grew more than 10 percent annually over the past five years to reach about 3,000 units last year, with Japanese mini-sized excavators accounting for a sheer 90 percent of the market share, the company said.

Doosan Infracore holds only 10 percent share of the local mini-sized excavator market.

The country's top construction equipment maker was put up for sale last month due to its parent Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction Co.'s cash shortages.

Among bidders for Doosan Infracore, global shipbuilding group Hyundai Heavy Industries Group attracted attention, as it has the country's second-largest construction equipment maker, Hyundai Construction Equipment Co., under its wing. (Yonhap)