On Nov. 16 Cowin Equipment Company purchased the distribution rights for Volvo Construction Equipment in the state of Alabama from ASC Construction Equipment USA Inc. The Alabama territory also includes the Florida panhandle and coastal Mississippi regions. The realignment of territories suits both companies’ strategic ambitions and has had limited impact on jobs, other than the transfer of affected ASC employees to Cowin.

According to Brad Stimmel, president of ASC Construction Equipment USA Inc., “It is a transaction that will allow us to continue our growth in the U.S. as well as to assist Volvo with enhancing its expansion of quality dealers in North America. Because of their long history in the territory and additional locations, I believe Cowin Equipment Company is equipped to expand customer service in the Alabama territory at a faster pace than ASC could have in the short term. As part of the Volvo family, anytime ASC can help strengthen the Volvo dealer network in the U.S., it will benefit ASC in the long term.

“For the last seven years, that is exactly what ASC has done in Alabama and in all of our locations. The hard work and investment from the ASC team has improved the Volvo distribution in that region. As an example, the Alabama operations have improved on the key performance measurements more than 50 percent since 2008. The Alabama region has led the way in improving governmental sales and Alabama ASC operations in Alabama produced a national championship product support team that won first place in the Volvo Master Cup competition in 2009. Alabama operations have always been a solid contributor to the ASC financial success in North America. With this contribution from Alabama and contributions from many other regions, ASC USA is currently one of the top ten performing Volvo dealerships in North America as measured by Volvo. We have been and will continue to work with Volvo and other dealers to improve the Volvo dealer network.”

The deal allows the Volvo Construction Equipment range of products to be consolidated under one dealership in the territory, promoting general purpose, utility, and road machinery products. Cowin has extensive experience marketing Volvo Road Machinery and has the knowledge and skills to grow Volvo’s entire business in this area. Cowin will support customers from its branches in Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Huntsville-Decatur, Oxford and Pensacola, Fla.

“Having already been the Volvo Road Machinery dealer for several years, we’re very excited to take on the full line of Volvo Construction Equipment, including articulated haulers, wheel loaders, graders and excavators,” said James Cowin, president and CEO. “Volvo is a top-tier player in the global CE industry with a tremendous focus on quality.

“At Cowin, we fully understand the importance of product support. We placed a massive parts order. The parts are already on our shelves. We’re also proud to have hired all the Alabama technicians from ASC, the prior distributor, and will of course augment those staff levels with many more factory trained technicians from our existing workforce. We’re dedicated to comprehensively supporting the Volvo product line.” CEG

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