VOLVO Construction Equipment has reported increased sales and profitability for the final quarter of 2021.
The business said all regions outside China saw an improvement across sales and deliveries, attributing the drop in China to a ‘saturated market’ for excavators following last year’s high sales levels and overall slowdown in construction and infrastructure investments across the region.
In Q4, 2021, Volvo increased net sales by 5% to SEK 21,812 M. Adjusted for currency movements net sales increased by 2%, of which net sales of machines were described as ‘flat’ while service sales increased by 14%.
For the full year 2021, net sales amounted to SEK 92,031M – rising from SEK 81,453M from last year.
Volvo explained that the European market showed a continuation of ‘solid growth’ (27%) with a high level of infrastructure investments and a recovery in the rental segment. North America’s growth (23%) was supported by investments in commercial real estate and ‘strong’ housing construction, while South America’s increase of 65% was largely driven by demand for commodities. China, however, reported a drop of 1% while all other regions in Asia, particularly in Korea and Southeast Asia, continued its rising market development of 19%.
The final months of 2021 saw the first shipment of the 20-ton EC230 Electric excavator for the Asian market from the factory in South Korea. Sales of Volvo’s compact electric machines, the ECR25 Electric excavator and the L25 Electric wheel loader, continued across ‘key markets’ with the manufacturer delivering 321 of these machines in the last year.
“The industry continues to be confronted by the effects of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in combination with additional challenges such as transport disruptions, global component shortages and an overwhelmed supply chain,” said Melker Jernberg, president of Volvo CE. “Yet thanks to the dedicated work of my colleagues, partners and suppliers, we have continued to deliver good profitability and took several important steps forward in our efforts to lead the transition to a carbon neutral construction industry.
“The greater flexibility, digitalisation and innovation across our products and services – not forgetting the stringent targets we have set ourselves in building a better world – have contributed towards a solid performance for 2021.”
