Director David Milne said he was confident that the UK market would follow the worldwide trend that has seen Liebherr sales grow on all models in recent times.
“We have got an excellent facility, and are investing in the UK market, which is not the case for our competitors,” Milne told Cranes Today. “We are unique in that sense.”
Liebherr UK sold around 250 mobile cranes last year, but Milne expected this number to be eclipsed by sales of around 300 before the end of 2005. He admitted that there was room for onlt limited growth thereafter, but he expected performance to be maintained.
“Looking forward to 2006 things already look very good,” said Milne.
Liebherr UK will launch a new two-axle 40t machine with a 35m boom during the first quarter of next year. Although only on paper at this stage, Milne reported widespread interest.
Although Liebherr UK has benefited from large recent orders from UK-based rental company Ainscough, Milne said he took more pride in securing smaller orders. “I pride myself on picking up the ones and twos,” he said. “It is the new customers that are really valuable to us.”
Milne revealed that further custom could be on the horizon following London’s successful bid to stage the 2012 Olympic Games.
Globally, the Liebherr Group says its construction equipment sector has shown substantial growth. It reported a turnover increase of 12.3% to €4.5billion (£3.1bn) for 2004. The company said the positive development had continued in the first half of this year, as turnover increased by 17.9% to €2.3bn (£1.6bn), compared with the same period in 2004.
