Volvo 2001 Annual Report Download - page 13

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9
No 1 or 2 in size or superior growth rate
The commercial vehicle industry is in a con-
solidation phase. Competitors strive to find
synergies and economies of scale, smaller
companies fall behind or are acquired by lar-
ger competitors. Volvo has set the target of
being in the top 2 in size within each seg-
ment, or to have a growth rate above
industry average. This target is met either by
strong organic growth or, if suitable, through
acquisition. The targeted annual growth rate
is 10% of sales.
Reaching the
vision
In order to ensure the achievement of the
Vision and Wanted position, the Volvo
Group strives in the following strategic and
financial direction:
Profitable growth – for the coming years,
we have set focus on growth within services,
i.e., financial services, complete systems,
support, business and information services,
up-time services and operational upgrades.
Volvo is also focusing on global growth and
concentrating on developing its businesses
geographically.
In order to have a competitive offering of
products and services, Product Cycle
Management is a focused medium-term
planning area, dealing with hard and soft
product development plans over the next
3–8 years. The strongest challenges within
this area are the powertrain systems and the
implementation of a common product
architecture.
Operational Excellence – objectives like
quality, productivity and cost efficiency, as
well as competence development, are vital
short-term objectives.
Given the targeted areas listed above, the
focus for the next few years will be to
strengthen the brand portfolio so that each
brand is developed in the best possible way,
to continue with a close monitoring of the
customers’ needs in order to develop the
right hard and soft products, and to further
develop and maintain the necessary key
competencies in each part of the Volvo value
chain.
The exchange of experiences between
business areas is essential in order to conduct
an efficient and lean operation. Exchange of
experiences is also necessary in order to uti-
lize the possibilities for synergies.
Brand strategy
In adherence to its vision and mission state-
ment, the Volvo Group is moving to active-
ly market transport-related products and ser-
vices under a number of different brand
names.
The fundamental philosophy of the
multi-brand strategy is that each brand has
the responsibility and authority to further
develop and nurture its established market
position based on its own specific attributes
and value offerings.
By adding new, recognized brands, such as
the Mack and Renault truck brands, the
Volvo Group gains both in economies of
scale and capability to achieve larger market
shares.
Moreover, Volvo gains a generally more
powerful and competitive brand portfolio
and presence around the world, resulting in
a stronger market position for the Volvo
Group’s operations. This is an important
step towards the fulfillment of the Volvo
Group’s vision and mission.