Volvo Articulated Haulers launches program to increase productivity

VOLVO ARTICULATED HAULERS LAUNCHES PROGRAM TO INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has decided to concentrate the production of its articulated haulers into two plants instead of three and at the same time, move and integrate the Volvo Articulated Haulers' head office in Växjö to the plant in Braås, Sweden, during 2003. The changes will affect around 90 employees in Asheville, USA, and around 70 employees and another 30 consultants in Växjö/Braås. "The total market of articulated haulers has not developed as we have expected. This has created an over-capacity, which must be addressed," states Stefan Nordström, President of Volvo Articulated Haulers. Therefore, an extensive program for capacity adjustment and increased productivity will be introduced. "After an in-depth analysis, we have come to the conclusion that the most cost-efficient way is to concentrate production of articulated haulers in Braås and Pederneiras, Brazil," states Stefan Nordström. The assembly operations in Asheville will be utilized for final customer adaptation with the remaining workload gradually phased out during 2003. As a result, Braås and Pederneiras will have an increase of its assembly and fabrication operations. The Company's support in terms of parts and product availability and service will remain unchanged for the customers in North America. Moreover, the articulated hauler phase-out in Asheville makes it easier to free up capacity for the production of the new Volvo skidsteer loader and telehandler lines. Both of these products are part of the compact construction equipment product range. "Production of the Volvo skidsteer loader has already begun in Asheville," said David Million, Vice President and General Manager, Volvo CE North America, Inc. "Our manufacturing facility will be Volvo CE's global center for this product. Present production capacities will be rapidly expanded as we free up space and we expect to produce over 1,000 skidsteer loaders during 2003 and even higher volumes during the years to come. The new Volvo telehandler production for the North American market will begin during 2003. We want to retain - and retrain - as many employees as possible from the articulated hauler operation to work with us on these new products." Volvo CE also produces six models of the Company's extensive wheel loader line (ten models) in its Asheville facility. This operation will not be affected by the change in the articulated hauler operation. December 11, 2002 For further information, please contact: Stefan Nordström, President & CEO, Volvo Articulated Haulers, Tel: +46 470-77 95 00 Klas Magnusson, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications, Volvo Construction Equipment Tel: +32 2 482 5065, Mobile: +32 475 576214 ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/12/11/20021211BIT00880/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2002/12/11/20021211BIT00880/wkr0002.pdf