Despite Strong China Sales, Volvo CE Sales Decline in Second Quarter
Volvo Construction Equipment posted 22,876 million SEK (about U.S. $2.533 billion) in the second quarter of 2020 compared to 26,814 million SEK in the second quarter last year, a 14.7-percent decrease. The negative effects of the Covid-19 on society and economic development characterized Volvo Construction Equipment’s (Volvo CE) second quarter results. Weak demand in Europe and North America was partially offset by a strong rebound in the Chinese market, the world’s largest.
North America sales were SEK 3,527 million compared to SEK 5,621 million, a 37.2-percent slide. Sales in Europe dropped 40.2 percent to SEK 5,254 million. Second quarter sales in Asia were SEK 12,928 million, a 23.3-percent year-over-year increase.
For the first six months of the year, total sales dropped 15.6 percent.
Despite the impact of the pandemic on sales, order intake increased by 11 percent in the second quarter, driven by a strong demand for the company’s SDLG branded machines, which were up by 31 percent. While most factories in Europe and the Americas were shut down for a month during Q2, a result of countrywide lockdowns and supply issues, deliveries increased by 8 percent in the second quarter.
For the year up to the end of May, both the European and North American markets, measured in units, shrank by 22 percent, while the Asian market (excluding China) reduced by 21 percent. The Chinese market has recovered strongly and was up 13 percent at the end of May. The South American market was also in positive territory, up by 8 percent at the same point in the year.
“While demand for construction equipment in both Europe and North America was weak during the second quarter, we were able to leverage our strong position in China, which rebounded strongly in the period,” said Melker Jernberg, head of Volvo Construction Equipment. “This is allowing us to act from a position of relative strength and to drive transformational technologies that are moving our industry to more sustainable solutions. We are continuing to invest in electrification, automation and connectivity.”
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.