Volvo Trucks heading for 30% growth in Iraq
The partnership with ZamZam General and network investment in Iraq is paying dividends for Volvo Group Trucks as it heads for 30% increase in sales by 2015. An assembly line is also planned.
L-R Joergen Lindstroem (Swedish Ambassador in Iraq) Bagher Kazem (President of ZamZam) Stefan Soenchen (Business Team Director Iraq)
The partnership with ZamZam General and network investment in Iraq is paying dividends for Volvo Group Trucks as it heads for 30% increase in sales by 2015. An assembly line is also planned.
Volvo Trucks and ZamZam recently unveiled two new Truck Centers in Iraq, and a third is on its way, says Volvo, marking the importance of this market within its Middle East growth strategy.
Since signing with the ZamZam General Group two years ago, Volvo Group Trucks has been asserting its presence in this key market, focusing on a rapid expansion of their presence, through the new Truck Centres in Baghdad and Basra, another one planned in Erbil by the end of 2013, as well as an emphasis on training and competence development, aimed at raising a new generation of national professionals.
These state of the art developments will be accompanied by the set-up of an assembly line in Babylon-Iskandariya, which will be one of the first Truck assembly lines in the country, says Volvo.
Volvo Group Trucks, a key historical player in the region, have strong and ambitious plans for the near future, largely focused on training and competence development, and chiefly, expansion though network and density enlargement. The new developments within their Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks brands play a pivotal role in their expansion, and new markets, such as Iraq, are a crucial element for Volvo Group Trucks Middle East’s strategy, in achieving its target of 30% by 2015.
The two new state of the art facilities takes the number of Truck Centers in the GCC to 48, “underlining the Group’s ambitious expansion plans aiming to be close to customers within the region”.
Commenting on the recent launches in Baghdad and Basra, Stefan Soenchen, Business Team Director, Iraq, highlighted the strategic thinking behind the brand’s expansion.
“The Iraqi market represents a hugely strategic fit and a key driver in bringing to fruition our targeted growth figures of a 30% increase by 2015,” he said. “The market displays the highest growth potential regionally in the heavy-duty truck segment, so it has naturally featured as a major part of our Middle East strategy since 2011.”
“On top of the new and planned Truck Centres, we will also be rolling out a number of value-added initiatives in the coming years, to further reinforce our investment and commitment to the region. The inclusion of the region’s upcoming training center, one of the most modern in the Middle East, will increase local skill sets and aid retention of local talent. This in itself is testimony to our commitment in being part of the region’s long-term development” added Marco Bonaveglio, Marketing Director for the Middle East.
Volvo Group Trucks has several key initiatives across other important regional markets, namely the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman underway. The truck-maker says these will come online in the near future as “the group’s vision of being at the forefront of their industry becomes reality by increasing growth figures by 30% in 2015 over the region”.
