Kenworth Truck Company remains bullish on the overall construction market, the company said at the annual World of Concrete show that opened today in Las Vegas.
"The construction market's the best thing going right now. It has direction - it's still sizzling," said Brian Lindgren, Kenworth's vocational market sales director.
Lindgren noted that the U S Commerce Department yesterday reported a 1.2% jump in December over the prior month in all construction projects, the biggest gain in 10 months. That followed on the heels of a large 0.9% gain in November.
Housing starts are continuing strong and interest rates are at a historic low with no end in sight. "When you consider that residential housing represents half of the construction market, that's tremendous news," Lindgren said. "Another plus is that general road, bridge and infrastructure spending is expected to be off only slightly from the record high of $45 billion spent in transportation public works in 2002.
"While the economy is still struggling to find direction, the construction industry seems to be the segment that's bucking the trend," Lindgren said. "That's especially good news for Kenworth because of our continuing major focus on this market. We had a significant increase in vocational sales in 2002. We expect to benefit again this year from the overall, positive construction climate, and the excellent combination of light weight, durability and performance that Kenworth provides for these customers."