31
MAY-JUNE 2013
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INTERNATIONAL
INTERVIEW
Forward
thinking
As Terex AWP’s newly-
appointed president
Matt Fearon has a lot to
contend with, although
a glowing set of first
quarter results will
certainly help.
Euan
Youdale
and
Lindsey
Anderson
spoke to him
about his plans for the
coming year.
showed the most growth during the period.
“We are encouraged by the performance
of our Aerial Work Platform (AWP)
business, which continues to reflect the
strong end-market dynamics of the rental
channel, particularly in North America.”
commented Ron DeFeo, Terex chairman and
chief executive officer.
Net sales for Terex AWP were up 21% from
the first quarter of 2012, at US$509 million.
Compared to the last quarter of 2012 net sales
were up 38% from $368 million. Looking
at worldwide sales; 63% came from North
America, while Western Europe came in as
the second biggest market, yet significantly
lower with 16% of sales. Latin America
provided 10% of sales, Asia 8%, and the rest of
the world 3%.
Because of this increase in demand, the
company is targeting revenues of $3.3 billion
by 2015, representing a compound annual
growth rate of around 16% over the next three
years, it said.
Nevertheless, Mr Fearon has a lot
riding on his shoulders, but he’s
confident the market will continue
to sustain overall growth “We are
shifting from exclusively replacing
fleets like we were in 2011 and
2012,” he says. “People are now
growing fleets a little bit. We are
seeing parts of the world starting to
improve, though sales are primarily
being driven by the North
American market.”
“I’m excited about being president,”
he says. “It’s going real smoothly. We did
leadership meetings that were already planned
so the timing worked out perfectly. It ended
up being a good hand off between Tim [Ford]
and I.”
While the economic downturn stymied
most production lines, Fearon says it gave
Terex AWP the opportunity to invest in
its internal systems, parts distribution,
logistics, new product development and other
infrastructures.
“Most of the stuff we’re doing is in process
so there’s not a major shift in any direction,
which is good because we’ve used the last few
years to invest in business,” he says. “So a lot
of things are in the works and we just keep
them moving. We’re going to be in a real good
spot this year.”
Products
There is, of course, the not so small exception
of the new 180 ft Genie SX-180 launched
at bauma in April.The machine is well
documented in the pages of this issue of
AI
. And when asked at Terex’s bauma press
conference if the SX-180 was the first of a
new set of superbooms, he said, “the trend is
towards big booms”. So, watch this space.
Terex AWP’s most-sought-after product,
however, is large telehandlers, Mr Fearon
says.The company recently debuted a new
machine, the GTH-1544, a 15,000-pound
(6.8 tonne) capacity telehandler that features
44 feet (13.4 m) in reach. It weighs around
34,000 pounds (15.4 tonnes) and features a
Tier 4 Interim engine from either Perkins or
Deutz. “Big telehandlers in the US are the
strongest [for Terex AWP],”Mr Fearon says.
“There’s a lot of oil and gas work and oil and
gas require a lot of telehandlers.”
Across the board, most product categories
are doing well for the company. “If there’s
a silver lining in the economic downturn,
it’s that people are shifting more to rental,”
Fearon says. “There’s not one product that
stands out as being too slow. Take rough
terrain scissors as an example. In 2012, they
were down.Then all of a sudden, RT scissor
came back.”
Mr Fearon says this is a pattern; demand
can move from one model to another.
“Whenever we catch up on one model, we
get a bunch of orders for another.”
AI
A
t the beginning of January, Terex Corp.
made a number of senior management
changes, including the appointment of
Matt Fearon as president of Terex Aerial Work
Platforms, replacing Tim Ford who became
president of Terex Cranes. Mr Fearon has
held a number of positions with Terex/Genie
for more than 18 years, having been managing
director of AWP Europe and general manager
of Terex AWP Americas. In short, he knows
the ropes. And he knows them pretty well.
“I ran the Americas – which is the bulk
of our production and engineering – and
previously EMEAR, so if you
add those two together,
it’s a big chunk of our
business,” Fearon
says. “I know a lot
of people; we all
know each other.
It’s been a good,
smooth transition.
Our team is
comfortable.”
Adding to that
comfort are the
figures from Terex
Corporation 2013
first quarter results. In
an uneven display, it was
the AWP and cranes
segments which
Matt Fearon, president
of Terex AWP
