Capital Markets Day, may 2006

“We regard the high attendance figure as a sign of great interest in Scania and in the region,” said Cecilia Edström, Senior Vice President Corporate Relations.

The theme of the Capital Market Day was Scania’s strategy and future prospects in Central and Eastern Europe, an area with major growth potential. The new Scania Central European Region (CER) consists of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia and is an example of how Scania is focusing on working more regionally instead of separately with each country. Regionalisation yields such advantages as more efficient inventory management and purchasing processes as well as larger sales districts. Since 1989 there has been enormous progress in Central and Eastern Europe. The region gained an extra impetus when many of its countries joined the European Union in 2004. Among other things, EU membership has contributed to the continued shift of production from the West, increased trade and improved infrastructure.

“Increased cross-border trade leads to greater transport demand,” said Per-Erik Lindquist, Group Vice President, Head of Franchise and Factory Sales. “In Spain, the number of trucks per capita has nearly tripled in a decade. Now we are seeing the same rapid expansion in Eastern Europe.”

During the Capital Market Day, speakers also underscored Russia’s major growth potential. Today this gigantic nation to the east is one of Scania’s ten largest markets. In 2005, Scania had about a 30 percent share of the Russian market for imported makes.

“The western part of Russia was previously the most active, but today activity is also growing in other regions,” said Raimo Lehtiö, Managing Director of Scania Russia. “The market for Western vehicles has increased dramatically in the past three years and we believe that this trend will continue.”
 
One element of Scania’s growth strategy is to offer competitive customer financing and to continuously expand its service network. To obtain an insight into how this looks in practice, participants in the Capital Market Day had the opportunity to visit the Scania dealership in Prague as well as the Hopi transport company, which is one of Scania’s customers.

“Hopi is an illustrative example of a transport company that carries out efficient logistics in the CER region. The company has no service workshops of its own and no plans to build any either. It only wants to focus on its business operations,” explained Bengt Thorsson, Executive Director of Scania CER.

“The hard thing is not selling a truck, but rather being able to provide service. Sales are only successful if service is successful,” declared František Piškanin, CEO of Hopi and one of that company’s founders. “Scania can provide our customers with service in the countries where we operate. Along with a high standard of cab comfort and low operating costs, this is why we primarily choose Scania.”

Text: Lovisa Karlsson