Mack Trucks Inc. president and CEO Paul Vikner says the industry should be optimistic about the potential for 2004.
"There's no doubt that 2003 was a challenging year for both heavy-duty truck makers and our customers in the construction industries," Vikner said at the World of Concrete Show. "But we saw encouraging signs of strength in the economy as a whole in the fourth quarter, which we expect to lead to renewed activity in construction and better conditions for our customers, especially in the concrete industry, this year."
Vikner said Mack maintained its leadership in the truck market's construction segment despite sharply lower sales volumes last year, thanks to the growing acceptance of its Granite model truck as the vehicle of choice in a wide variety of applications in the segment - particularly mixers.
The company recently began offering an all-wheel-drive version of its Granite series. In addition, Granite vehicles can now be equipped with Central Tire Inflation, or CTI, a popular option for mixer applications. And a new noise insulation package results in even quieter cabs.