Volvo Construction Equipment has reported 37% drop in sales revenue for 2009 and a loss of £343m.
Over the year it sold 38,783 machines, down from 2008's peak of 63,641 units. Sales in Europe fell from £2.1bn in 2008 to £1.1bn last year with only the Asian market approached the level of 2008.
However, the fourth quarter figures show an improving situation with sales only 9% below the 2008 level (although Europe is still down by 26%) and Volvo CE's losse have been halved to £48.3m (from £107.5m). The company said it also halved dealer inventories during the year and stock is now in balance with demand.
Volvo predicts markets will remain soft in 2010 and expects North America and Europe to rise by between 0-10% from their current very low bases. Asia and other international markets are expected to grow by between 10-20% with China at the top end of that range.
Volvo has announced it will introduce four new SDLG branded crawler excavators into China by the end of 2010, to be built at its Lingong factory in Linyi.
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