FARGO (AP) - The 750,000th Bobcat skid-steer loader is slated to roll off the assembly line this summer in Gwinner, where the loader has been manufactured since 1958.

West Fargo-based Bobcat this year is celebrating a legacy launched five decades ago by brothers Louis and Cyril Keller in their Rothsay, Minn., blacksmith shop. From a simple, cardboard-drawn sketch, the Kellers built a three-wheel, self-propelled loader to ease manure-removal chores on area turkey farms.

South Korea's Doosan Infracore Co. purchased Bobcat Co. last year, in a deal worth $4.9 billion.

Now there are 42 Bobcat models of loaders, excavators, utility machines and telescopic tool carriers that are produced at manufacturing plants in Gwinner and Bismarck; Carrollton, Ga.; Litchfield, Minn.; Wujiang, China; Dobris, Czech Republic; and Pontchateau, France.

Bobcat Co. employs 4,000 people worldwide. Its network of about 1,300 dealers extends across 90 different countries.

"Right now we are probably at one of the most exciting points of our existence," said Scott Nelson, the worldwide president of Bobcat Co. and chief executive officer of Doosan Infracore International.

"Virtually all of our products are being redesigned and relaunched" over the next 30 months, said Nelson, who has been with Bobcat for 20 years.

Bobcat is no longer recognized as just a North American brand, Nelson said.

"They are as passionate about the brand in Italy as they are in Iowa," he said.

"We're rapidly globalizing this business," Nelson said. "Asia Pacific is our fastest-growing region now."

The company is the seventh-largest manufacturer of construction equipment, he said.

"They want to be No. 3 within five years right behind Caterpillar and Komatsu," he said.

In five decades, Bobcat has become a $2.5 billion company.

"That's a pretty phenomenal run rate," said Nelson. "We did that through a lot of entrepreneurial efforts."