All-time-high for Scania in Taiwan and Hong Kong

Bus boom in Eastern Asia All-time-high for Scania in Taiwan and Hong Kong Scania is experiencing a bus boom in Eastern Asia. In the space of just a few weeks, new record volumes have been recorded in Scania distributor Forefront's order books in both Taiwan and Hong Kong. In Taiwan, Scania customer Aloha is buying 70 new long-distance buses, while sales in Hong Kong were already 50 per cent up on last year's figures back in September. "There are several factors that are favourable right now," says Torsten Linder, who coordinates Scania's sales in the CEA region (Chinese Economic Area) from Hong Kong, together with Forefront International. "After several crisis years, the authorities in Taiwan have implemented a wide-ranging economic stimulation package to boost domestic demand. Saturdays are now work-free days, which immediately led to increased demand for recreational travel, among other things. In addition, the government has announced that restrictions for mainland Chinese to visit Taiwan will be lifted sooner than planned, a measure that is expected to boost the country's tourism industry." The increase in bus sales balances the region's current weak truck market to a certain extent. With the latest contracts, Scania has secured sales of just over 300 buses in Taiwan for the current year, which is an all-time-high. The same applies to Hong Kong, which recorded sales of over 100 units. Aloha's intercity buses are built on the Scania K114 chassis, which are assembled in Katrineholm. The bodies are made locally in Taiwan. Aloha has 145 Scania buses in its fleet. For further information, please contact Gunnar Boman, Scania Buses & Coaches, tel +46 8-553 895 10 or +46 70-5508606, E-mail gunnar.boman@scania.com Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 26,900 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector. In 2000, turnover totalled SEK 53,800 million and the result after financial items was SEK 4,500 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and some 95 percent of Scania's vehicles are sold outside Sweden. Bus manufacture takes place in Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. Scania press releases are available on the Internet, www.scania.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/11/06/20011106BIT00680/bit0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2001/11/06/20011106BIT00680/bit0001.pdf