Volvo, the world’s second-largest truck maker, says its lorry deliveries in the Middle East are expected to grow 20 per cent this year amid new models and increased government spending on infrastructure that has sparked a construction boom in the region.
The Swedish car maker, known for its attention to passenger safety, earlier this year unveiled a line-up of new lorries at a gala in Abu Dhabi, with which it hopes to boost sales.
And its bold projection comes amid massive government infrastructure spending in the Arabian Gulf and reconstruction efforts in war-shattered Iraq. Governments have been spending billions of dollars on building airports, roads, metros and other big civic engineering projects. That will all increase demand for building and transport equipment such as lorries.
“The ongoing development of the Middle East lorry market makes it a key focus for Volvo Trucks, and we intend to build on this great start to the year to reach our goals,” said Lars-Erik Forsbergh, the president of Volvo Trucks for the Middle East. “The new FH, FM and FMX models will help us to do that, as they offer the highest possible standards of reliability, handling, time-saving features, fuel efficiency, safety and driver comfort to our Middle East customers.”
Volvo last week said first quarter operating profit surged almost five-fold as the manufacturer scaled back production to meet a cost savings target for next year, according to Bloomberg News. Earnings before interest and taxes rose to 2.27 billion kronor (Dh1.27bn) from 482 million kronor a year earlier, Volvo said.
Its chief executive, Olof Persson, has a goal of turning the company into the most profitable heavy lorry maker by reorganising the Volvo and Renault brands’ production in Europe, cutting administrative jobs and expanding overseas.
The programme’s target is 4bn kronor in annual cost savings by the end of next year. A lorry production line and a component plant were closed during the quarter, Bloomberg reported.
Volvo said its lorry deliveries in the Middle East in the first quarter increased 13 per cent in the 13 Middle East markets in which it operates. The car maker launched three models for the Middle East in January, the biggest offering of its kind. The car maker, which unveiled its FH, FM and FMX models at Yas Marina Circuit, said its FMX model was tipped to help the brand dominate the construction segment because it had been built for operating in the toughest working conditions on Earth.
The new range features a redesigned cab with improved seating position, increased usable window area and a fresh rear-view mirror design. Other features include Volvo’s Dynamic Steering, an intelligent I-Shift gearbox and the option of having an air suspension in addition to the traditional mechanical one, it said.
mkassem@thenational.ae
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
PAKISTAN v SRI LANKA
Twenty20 International series
Thu Oct 26, 1st T20I, Abu Dhabi
Fri Oct 27, 2nd T20I, Abu Dhabi
Sun Oct 29, 3rd T20I, Lahore
Tickets are available at www.q-tickets.com
The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.8-litre%204-cyl%20turbo%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E190hp%20at%205%2C200rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20320Nm%20from%201%2C800-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESeven-speed%20dual-clutch%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%206.7L%2F100km%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh111%2C195%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Favourite hobby: I love to sing but I don’t get to sing as much nowadays sadly.
Favourite book: Anything by Sidney Sheldon.
Favourite movie: The Exorcist 2. It is a big thing in our family to sit around together and watch horror movies, I love watching them.
Favourite holiday destination: The favourite place I have been to is Florence, it is a beautiful city. My dream though has always been to visit Cyprus, I really want to go there.
Hotel Data Cloud profile
Date started: June 2016
Founders: Gregor Amon and Kevin Czok
Based: Dubai
Sector: Travel Tech
Size: 10 employees
Funding: $350,000 (Dh1.3 million)
Investors: five angel investors (undisclosed except for Amar Shubar)
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
TOUCH RULES
Touch is derived from rugby league. Teams consist of up to 14 players with a maximum of six on the field at any time.
Teams can make as many substitutions as they want during the 40 minute matches.
Similar to rugby league, the attacking team has six attempts - or touches - before possession changes over.
A touch is any contact between the player with the ball and a defender, and must be with minimum force.
After a touch the player performs a “roll-ball” - similar to the play-the-ball in league - stepping over or rolling the ball between the feet.
At the roll-ball, the defenders have to retreat a minimum of five metres.
A touchdown is scored when an attacking player places the ball on or over the score-line.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
