Scania’s expansion of its Russian network pays off

The Russian grocery chain X5 Retail Group has ordered 146 Scania distribution trucks for supplying goods to its nationwide stores and supermarkets. Last year Scania delivered 144 trucks to the group.

“The deal confirms our customers’ trust in Scania as a provider of high quality trucks with low operating costs and a well-developed service network,” says Raimo Lehtiö, Managing Director of Scania Russia.

X5 Retail Group N.V. is continuing to increase the share of Scania trucks in its fleet, which was previously dominated by domestic makes. With this order, more than 50 percent of the company’s heavy distribution trucks in Russia will be Scania trucks.

The company has more than 600 stores and supermarkets of its own in major Russian cities such as Moscow, St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, as well as 600 franchised retail units in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan.

All 146 vehicles, which will begin to be delivered in September, are two-axle and three-axle distribution trucks equipped with Scania 9-litre engines. The trucks are furnished with box bodies from a Russian bodybuilder.

Today Scania has nearly 30 service workshops in Russia and plans to continue its expansion. During 2008, an additional six to eight new service workshops will be established. Scania Russia will also establish regional warehouses in order to provide high availability of parts to all its customers in the country.

The rapid growth of the Russian heavy truck market continued last year. Imports of western European makes increased by 115 percent during 2007. A total of 19,464 new trucks were imported, compared to 9,072 in 2006.

With a market share of 27.4 percent, Scania was the largest western European make in Russia for the seventh straight year.