MAN Plans To Reduce Inventory Level To 7,000 Trucks

(chinatrucks.com, Nov. 10, 2009)German engineering firm and truck maker MAN SE (MAN.XE) Monday said it aims to reduce its inventory further to 7,000 trucks by the end of 2009.

"We were successful in reducing our stock, but stock of used trucks is still too high," MAN truck chief Anton Weinmann said in a presentation published on the Munich-based firm's Web site.

MAN's inventory stood at 8,085 trucks at the end of the third quarter.

Weinmann confirmed remarks made by Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson Oct. 29, saying that MAN's cost savings will reach around EUR700 million in 2009.

Weinmann said the effect of short-time work schemes is expected to contribute about EUR200 million to the planned cost reduction.

The truck market is still expected to remain weak in 2010, but MAN doesn't anticipate a further decline amid "positive signs from market indicators."

Samuelsson told reporters last month that sales and earnings in 2010 are expected to be roughly flat on the year.

MAN has navigated the industry gloom better than many of its rivals and avoided large-scale cutbacks due to a solid order backlog and a more diversified portfolio, which includes turbo machines and large diesel engines as well as commercial vehicles.

In a separate presentation published Monday, Samuelsson said he sees a "good basis" for reaching similar margins in emerging markets "in the medium term" than in its core European market.

Growth in Brazil, Russia, India and China, or the BRIC countries, is a cornerstone of MAN's global expansion plans.

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