The need to satisfy increased worldwide demand and reduce the amount of time that customers have to wait for their machines to be delivered are the driving forces for a package of investments Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE) has announced. Totaling more than $55 million, the production facilities in Braas and Eskilstuna, Sweden and Asheville, NC, will be the focus of much of the spending, and lead to a considerable increase in production output, according to Volvo.

The investment in the Braas facility will see 25 percent more articulated haulers being produced by the end of 2007, increasing output to 4,000 machines.

With global demand for articulated haulers currently at an all time high and expectations that this product concept will continue to find new customers in developing markets, sales are expected to continue to increase. This investment is needed to respond to this positive development, according to the company.

Volvo CE is a worldwide leader in articulated haulers, and the increased output of the Braas factory is hoped to not only meet current demand but also win an even bigger share of the market in the future. The investment also brings with it the news that approximately 100 new employees will be recruited to cope with the additional output.

Investments also will be directed at increasing output of Volvo CE’s cab factory in Hallsburg, Sweden, as well as its component facility in Eskilstuna, Sweden, with a particular focus on boosting production of transmission systems.

Volvo CE’s Asheville factory will begin building excavators as well as wheel loader and excavator cabs by the middle of 2007. The plant will receive a cash injection of $25 million to increase its fabrication and assembly capabilities in order to meet growing requirements in the local excavator market. The trend to build excavators in locations other than Volvo CE’s core excavator factory in Korea has already proven successful, with production now also in China and Germany.

The 430,556-sq.-ft. (40,000 sq m) Asheville plant will build four of Volvo CE’s 11 excavator models — the EC160B, EC210B, EC330B, and the EC360B, for delivery to customers in the United States and Canada. The manufacturing facility will continue to produce five of the 10 models of Volvo wheel loaders.

For more information, call 828/650-2000 or visit www.volvoce.com.

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