Allied Transport Establishment has contracted FAMCO (Al-Futtaim Auto and Machinery Company) to supply 30 Volvo trucks for its operations in the United Arab Emirates.
The company, which selected the Volvo FH400 model with I-shift transmission technology, received the first vehicles from the order during a recent ceremony at the FAMCO headquarters in Dubai.
“Our fleet currently includes eight Volvo trucks and we have found these vehicles to be very reliable. With the addition of the latest Volvo I-Shift trucks, we will be able to achieve our objectives with much better economy and improved efficiency,” said Ali Beyat, managing director of Allied Transport.
“The primary reason for choosing these vehicles was Volvo’s superior quality and reliability, supported by FAMCO’s reputation for after-sales service,” he added.
Allied Transport is now planning to provide DHL with the vehicles to boost the courier company’s fleet network in the Middle East and support the recent increase in demand for express deliveries in the region.
“This order is part of our five-year strategy with DHL,” said Beyat. “We anticipate the supply of over 500 trucks for DHL’s requirements over this period time. The vehicles will be used to meet the growing demand for the company’s express service across the GCC and Levant countries and North America.”
Swedish lorry-maker Volvo said Thursday it had recalled 125,000 trucks in North America due to the danger of short circuits in the lighting system that could cause fires.”All the trucks produced in North America since 2003 to this day” are being recalled, Volvo spokesman Tommy Kohle told AFP, adding that the call-back was due to an electrical module that controls the trucks’ lighting system.
“We have discovered that it becomes too warm and that there can be a short-circuit that potentially could create smoke or in the worst case a fire,” Kohle said, adding it remained unclear how the problem would be fixed.
“I do not know yet if the system will need to be replaced or if there will be some kind of alteration, but it is a fairly quick job to do and it has to be done,” he said.
Volvo, the world’s number two heavy duty truck manufacturer, has seen its sales in North America plummet since the beginning of the year, amid strong growth in other markets, especially Asia.
The Swedish company, which sells products under the brands of Volvo, Renault and Mack, said its decline on the American market had been caused by the introduction of new environmental standards on January 1, 2007.
Subaru’s Christmas present to everyone is the release of the first official photos of the 2009 Forester. The Forester’s appearance has been one of the worst-kept secrets in all of autodom over the last few weeks, but nonetheless, here you go. Subaru’s PR (read it after the jump) is scant on details except to say that the car rides on a longer wheelbase than the outgoing model, providing more interior room while growing overall length just 3 inches. Inside, expect to see upgraded plastics and ergonomics, with power coming from 2.5L normally aspirated and turbocharged boxer engines. From the angle shown, the JDM model depicted above still looks like the love child of a Chrysler Pacifica and a Mitsubishi Outlander if you ask us. We expect to have lots more on this new Forester in the coming days.
Toyota Motor, whose small, fuel-efficient vehicles are reaping the benefits of soaring gas prices, raised its 2008 forecast to 9.85 million in vehicle sales, despite fears of a slowdown in its key U.S. market.
Toyota’s forecasts could put it ahead of General Motors, the world’s largest automaker by vehicle sales. General Motors hasn’t given a forecast for next year, but estimated 9.2 million in vehicle sales in 2007. In 1978, the U.S. automaker created an unbeaten record when it sold 9.55 million units.
As demand slows down in the U.S. and European markets, global automakers are counting on markets like India, China and Russia, where rising incomes are leading to high growth rates. Toyota Motor opened a factory in St. Petersburg last week and estimates a 25% rise in Russia sales next year.
Toyota, the maker of models like the Camry and Prius hybrids, estimated 2.27 million in vehicle sales in its home market of Japan and 7.58 million in overseas sales for the next year. In Asia excluding Japan, the company is looking at a 20% increase in sales, compared with a 1% rise in the United States.
“At the beginning of the year, we wondered if the total auto market would reach 8 million, and by mid-year we were looking at 8.5 million. Now it’s possible the market will exceed 9 million. We need to figure out how to meet demand,” President Katsuaki Watanabe told media in Nagoya, Japan.
Last month, Toyota reported an 11% increase in profits for its second quarter. For 2008, the company is budgeting for global production of 9.95 million units, up 5% from this year’s level.
“We think these are achievable numbers and take a positive stance on them,” Citigroup said in a research note. “Toyota’s range abounds in fuel-efficient vehicles and it was also ahead of the pack in commercializing mass-produced hybrids. It is also boosting diesel engines in alliance with Isuzu Motors. We like the way it is set to play to its strengths in expanding earnings by bringing to mass production vehicles with superior gas mileage in 2008 and beyond,” said analyst Noriyuki Matsushima.
For the first nine months of this year, Toyota sold 7.05 million vehicles sold worldwide, barely trailing General Motors’ tally of 7.06 million. The final numbers for the year will be out in January.
Goldman Sachs said in an analyst note that while the company’s U.S. and Japan targets were ambitious for next year, overall sales could come in at more than 10 million vehicles.
Toyota’s shares rose 1.3% on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Wednesday, closing at 6,180 yen ($54.14). Later in New York, its American depositary receipts, which represent two Japanese shares, gained 1.5%, or $1.62, to $108.56, equivalent to 6,197 yen in Tokyo.
Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co., Ltd (GTMC), Toyota’s second joint venture in China, aims to increase its sales target by 17% in 2008, powered by launching new models and the expansion of output capacity, market sources reported.
GTMC estimates a projected sales volume of 210,000 vehicles next year, including 175,000 units of Camry premier sedan and 35,000 Yaris hatchback, which are scheduled to sell nationwide in the middle of 2008.
Driven by soaring demand in premier class segment, the company raised its sales target twice to 170,000 units this year. The sales of Camry, the only model of GTMC in the mid-to-high segment, beat Honda’s Accord as the year’s best selling model, and reported a total sale of 153,000 units for the first 11 months.
Yuan Zhongrong, the executive vice president of Guangzhou Toyota, expected the competition in the premier class segment to be much more intense next year compared to this year.
Its rival Honda will begin to sell new Accord tomorrow, with an expected sales volume of 185,000 units next year. In response, Toyota is planning to launch Yaris hatchback, the Japanese car maker’s global model, and to expand its dealership network to 180 stores.
Toyota, a leading car maker from Japan, has added capacity and is actively launching new models to grab bigger market share. In line with its expansion in China, the company expects to take a 10% market share on mainland by 2010, up 5% from last year.
A crash involving a Dump truck closed sent one person to the hospital and closed a stretch of a heavily traveled road in Cherry Hill Friday.
The accident happened at about 5 a.m. at Berlin and Evesham Roads.
The Dump truck driver suffered non life threatening injuries and was taken to an area hospital for treatment.
Authorities said the road remained closed while crews worked to clear a fuel spill that leaked from the truck.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
Summit Hill opened bids for two items Friday, each of which drew a quote from one bidder.
The first bid, from S.A. Comunale Co. of Barberton, Ohio, offered to install a sprinkler system at a new fire station and community center the borough will begin building in 2008. The cost for the system was projected at $72,318.
The other bid was $34,000 for a Dump truck with snow plow.
The borough building project will involve razing of the borough’s current building and the construction of two new buildings, which will house borough offices, police and fire stations, and a community center.
Estimated costs for the project are expected to total about $3.5 million, according to Scott Shearer from Public Financial Management Inc. of Harrisburg, one of the project’s financial advisers.
Of that amount, $1.25 million will come from a matching state grant, and another $200,000 will come in the form of funds the borough has managed to save.
Shearer said at a meeting that he hopes council members will consider floating a $2.1 million bond to cover the rest of the costs. In order to pay the amount back over 25 years, the property tax may rise by more than 1 mill in 2009.
Because the matching grant money will not be made available to the borough until it has other financing in place, council will need to finance the full amount of the project up-front. It will then be reimbursed by the state.
If council votes on the bond issue at its reorganization meeting in three weeks, Shearer said it is likely the funds will be in place by February.
The second bid, from the Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp. of Nesquehoning, offered a 2004 Ford dump truck — complete with snow plow and cinder spreader — for $34,000. An F-550 4 by 4 model, the truck has 30,209 miles on it.
Borough Secretary Kira Michalik said the sprinkler bid will be reviewed by the project’s architect, and both bids will be looked over by the borough solicitor before council makes a decision.
The bids are scheduled to be discussed and acted upon at the borough’s reorganization meeting at 7 p.m. Jan. 7.
A Truck hauling third-class mail lost some of its load Monday, state police said.
The truck, an independent carrier not with the U.S. Postal Service, was on 127th Street east of Illinois 59. It was trying to make a turn, and the rear axles, or tandems, came off, police said.
Without the tandems, the rear end of the truck fell, and the truck lost part of its load of magazines and third-class bulk mail, police said.
An Ohio driver was cited in connection with a suspended drivers license, logbook violations, and unsafe equipment, state police said Monday.
