Skip to main content

Weak European currency boosting exports of machines

Some European equipment manufacturers are taking advantage of low currency values to boost sales at the moment. Hamm’s marketing manager Gottfried Beer said: “We see that with the exchange rate it’s a chance for us.” Both for Hamm and its rival BOMAG, for example, the low value of the European currency against the US dollar gives a significant price advantage. For US rental customers, this means that they can buy premium products from Europe at prices that would have previously been restricted to second ti
January 6, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Strong sales of European machines are a result of a weak currency

Some European equipment manufacturers are taking advantage of low currency values to boost sales at the moment. 228 Hamm’s marketing manager Gottfried Beer said: “We see that with the exchange rate it’s a chance for us.”

Both for Hamm and its rival 172 BOMAG, for example, the low value of the European currency against the US dollar gives a significant price advantage. For US rental customers, this means that they can buy premium products from Europe at prices that would have previously been restricted to second tier brands. Beer said, “It’s very attractive for customers buying in dollars.”

And he added: “That is the reason why this INTERMAT is interesting.”

The British pound is similarly strong against the European currency. Beer said, “When they buy now, they get more machines than ever.”

In terms of sales, Hamm has had orders in the hundreds for its H7 soil compactor, even before the machine has gone into production. Although announced late last year, the H7 is only just going into production at the factory in Tirschenreuth. However, every one of those machines trundling off the production line in the next few months will have had a customer name assigned to it well in advance - and with a significant chunk of those sales going into the US rental segment.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Emissions legislation driving machinery design
    June 13, 2012
    Legislative and economic factors are impacting upon the earthmoving equipment market - Mike Woof reports No-one who has any connection with the construction equipment sector can have failed to notice that increasingly tough emissions legislation has changed the shape of machines over the last 10 years or so. A series of targets have been set and met with regard to the exhaust emissions permitted from off-highway machines used in North America and Europe. The latest round of requirements has seen the intr
  • The drive for US road funding: will corporate America get a seat?
    September 13, 2017
    Trumponomics aims to use public money for pump-priming an even greater amount of cash from the private sector to improve America’s crumbling roads. But is political will matching corporate America’s enthusiasm for more private investment, asks David Arminas If there were ever a test case for comparing public-private partnerships and design-build contracts, the recently completed Ohio River Bridges Project is it (see previous article).
  • VDMA optimistic for machine sales
    July 16, 2015
    The VDMA is the German equipment manufacturing association and says it is optimistic with regard to machine demand. The VDMA’s latest forecast for the construction equipment business segment in 2015 suggests market growth of 4%. According to the VDMA, the bauma 2016 construction equipment event in Munich in spring 2016 will also provide strong impetus for machine sales. German construction equipment manufacturers are more optimistic at the middle of the year than they were at the beginning – "even though u
  • Engine emissions solutions
    January 9, 2015
    Various engine firms can now derate emissions control systems if required – Mike Woof reports With the next stage of the tough emissions regulations now coming into force in North America and Europe, this has had a major impact on the sales of secondhand machines. The fuel delivery systems for these ultra-low emission diesels can only cope with high quality fuels with very low sulphur content. And tests on the effects of low quality, high sulphur fuels on the low emissions engines have shown corrosion and r