Wait for the revival
Page 5
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DO NOT expect any significan recovery in the economy Won the end of this year, managim director of Sandbach Engi neering Co Ltd Hank Kiefer sai, at the restart of vehicle pm duction at the Fodens factor and went on to say that any re covery would be sluggish an sporadic.
Repeating the comment made by Paccar management a the time of the Fodens purchasE Mr Kiefer stressed that th Sandbach factory will stil produce Foden chassis and tha there are no plans to produc Kenworth or Peterbilt models.
The first Foden to come off th line under the new managemer was an 8x4 Haulmaster with rut ber suspension. Mr Kiefe mentioned that the Foden chez sis currently being assemble, were virtually identical to thos manufactured by Fodens Ltd be fore the takeover, but hinted the "our product development prc grammes are intended to mak Foden lorries lighter, more fue efficient, more durable, and as result more profitable for th operator".
When questioned abou weightsaving, Mr Kiefer said th company was looking for altei native materials, particularly aft minium, as Paccar has a gree deal of experience with thi metal in the USA.
At the time of the takeover lae October the Fodens network ha, 18 distributors and Mr Kiefe confirmed that this number sti retains the Fodens franchise.
Because of the current econc mic situation Mr Kiefer woul, not be drawn into making an predictions as to future chassi productions or manning level or "speculate on any issue the is beyond our ability to control"
But he did confirm that the lac tory is not building militar vehicles at the moment.