SODERTALJE, Sweden, June 6, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Market leader, Scania has been elected Truck of the Year in Russia in the best imported heavy vehicle category. The award was made by a jury of the country's leading trade journalists.
The jury was faced with a choice of foreign models from Scania, Volvo, Iveco, Mercedes, MAN, DAF and Renault.
The official Russian statistics of sales of heavy vehicles for 2001 were published at the same time. These show that Scania leads the field with 29% of the market for imported trucks.
Amounting to approximately 25,000 vehicles annually, the market for heavy vehicles in Russia is completely dominated by domestic makes, with western trucks accounting for only 5% or so. However, the percentage of European trucks is increasing rapidly as the Russian economy strengthens, and is now approaching 10%.
"Winning the Truck of the Year award is obviously very satisfying," commented P.G. Nilsson, MD of Scania's subsidiary, Scania Russia.
"It is also gratifying to note that sales this year to date have exceeded our own predictions and that we are heading for record volumes - around 500 vehicles -- since we commenced activities in Russia. The response to our purpose-built Griffin model, in particular, has been almost overwhelming."
Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 28,300 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector. In 2001, turnover totalled SEK 53,000 million and the result after financial items was SEK 1,500 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and some 95 percent of Scania's vehicles are sold outside Sweden. Scania press releases are available on the Internet, www.scania.com
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