VIDEO: Interview with Volvo CE's Pat Olney

Pat Olney has had an impressive rise through the ranks at Volvo Construction Equipment (Volvo CE). He joined the company in 1997 when his then employer, grader manufacturer Champion Road Machinery, was acquired by the company.

After a spell as CFO, he moved into general management positions within Volvo CE. The appointment as president of the grader business saw him return to his native Canada, from where he went on to oversee the wider road machinery division following Volvo's acquisition of Ingersoll-Rand's road building business in 2007.

But the big step came earlier this year when Olof Persson, president of Volvo CE, was chosen to replace Leif Johansson at the head of the Volvo Group. Mr Persson left Volvo CE as a company in strong health. It currently achieves an operating margin above 10%, and is ranked 4th in iC's Yellow Table survey of the world's 50 largest construction equipment manufacturers.

But although the company has emerged from the recession in good shape, the world has changed, and it is clear that in the future, Volvo CE under Mr Olney will be something of a different animal to the company of today, and certainly of a few years ago.

Emerging countries are more important than ever, and
one of the biggest challenges for Volvo and other many other equipment manufacturers is how to adjust to the needs of these markets. It is not just about developing different products, but building a geographic footprint that is less Euro-centric than before.

The full interview with Pat Olney can be read in the October issue of International Construction.

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