* Sweden - The Van Damme Dividend? Volvo Truck sales rise
Gothenburg, Sweden -The Wall Street Journal (NY,USA), by Christina Zander -December 18, 2013: -- Volvo Truck continued to report healthy demand last month for its core Volvo brand of heavy vehicles Wednesday even as its other brands stagnated, but it is unclear at this point if the company’s recent round of attention-grabbing YouTube ads is having much to do with its success... Volvo Truck, one of four wholly owned truck brands in the Volvo Group, delivered 31% more trucks in November than it did in the prior year, representing a sizable gain for a company selling high-dollar goods in economic times that remain challenging. Deliveries for the group’s Mack, Renault and UD truck brands remained largely flat compared with last year... Volvo retooled its portfolio for better performance, including better steering, faster breaking and improved efficiency. So the goal was to get the general public talking about a brand that sells to a relatively narrow pocket of consumers, truck buyers want to purchase vehicles seen as innovative... The Volvo Group said that all though the commercial has attracted a massive amount of attention, it is still too early to say what sort of impact it has had on its customers. Instead it names a pre-buy effect ahead of more stringent emission regulations, which take effect in January, as the main reason behind the up-tick in November deliveries... The YouTube spot featuring Mr. Van Damme was by far the most popular of the firm’s Volvo creations — attracting awards and more than 60 million viewers — it was the sixth in a series of commercials meant to tout new technologies...
* Sweden - UD Trucks delivers first Quester units
Gothenburg,Sweden -Construction Week -Dec 20, 2013: -- UD Trucks has delivered the first units of its new heavy-duty Quester range to Asia Group, a concrete pile manufacturing business... The deal comprises 15 units in total, and includes the signing of a three-year maintenance and repair contract... Part of AB Volvo since 2007, UD Trucks has recently geared up its manufacturing and distribution operations in Thailand... The Quester truck range features a built-in, real-time ‘Fuel Coaching’ system, which provides instant feedback and assistance to help users drive as economically as possible. According to its designers, this system offers fuel savings of up to 30%. The Quester also offers Telematics Hardware: a wireless communication tool that collects information from the vehicle whilst it’s on the road...
* Russia - Truckmaker Kamaz expects 2014 production decline
Moscow,Russia -Reuters -Dec 18, 2013: -- Russian truckmaker Kamaz , facing falling demand, said on Wednesday its board had approved targets for next year, including producing 43,000 trucks compared with 43,500 expected this year... Kamaz, in which German autos group Daimler has an 11 percent stake, said in a statement that it expected profit of 3.35 billion roubles ($101.61 million) in 2014... In January-July Kamaz sales fell 11.3 percent to 20,400 trucks because of slowing economic growth in Russia...
* USA - Navistar misses the street on broad sales declines
Lisle,ILL,USA -FOXBusiness, by Matthew Rocco -December 20, 2013: -- Navistar International (NAV) reported a wider-than-anticipated loss in the fourth quarter, as the truck maker’s revenue dipped on weakness across all business segments... The company said Friday its loss narrowed to $154 million versus a year-ago loss of $2.77 billion, which included a $2 billion charge related to deferred tax valuation allowance... The Lisle,ILL-based company has been stuck in the red as a result of its engine troubles. Navistar has incurred significant costs for warranty claims on a new 13-liter engine, in addition to the expense of adopting a new emissions treatment system... Last year, Navistar implemented the same treatment system used by the rest of the industry after failing to meet tougher U.S. emissions standards for about three years...Labels: truckmakers news worldwide
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