Truck makers take cautious line in '99
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• by Miles Brignall
Two of the major truck manufacturers are in the process of shedding staff in a bid to cut costs in anticipation of an uncertain year.
Last week Volvo Truck & Bus announced 26 redundancies and Mercedes-Benz told its field sales staff that they would not all be required when the division is reorganised.
And staff at Iveco are understood to be nervous following the arrival of new managing director Giuseppi Franchi in February.
According to a spokesman for Volvo, its job losses are down to an edict from Sweden demanding a total of 1,000 redundancies from the various truck divisions across the world. He declined to say where the axe would fall.
Rumours at last week's Commercial Vehicle show claimed Mercedes-Benz was looking at drastically reducing its sales staff. Its spokesman confirms the company will be
making some redundancies, but says its losses are the result of a reorganisation of its dealer network over the past 18 months. He also declined to talk figures.
A spokesman for lveco categorically denies that any new job losses are planned by the Italian-owned firm. However Franchi has already said that he wants to integrate Seddon Atkinson further into the rest of the lveco group's organisation.
Vehicle sales for the first two months of this year have been disappointing and manufacturers are saying that 1999 is proving a "very difficult year to call".