First Middle East Volvo Rents store opens in Abu Dhabi

Volvo Construction Equipment's dealer in the United Arab Emirates, FAMCO, has opened the first Volvo Rents store in the Middle East, located in Abu Dhabi.

The Abu Dhabi store has a fleet of around 50 medium and large sized machines including articulated haulers, wheeled loaders and excavators. The investment is estimated to be around US$15 million. The general manager of the operation is FAMCO's Arif Chishti.

Ilkay Fidan, Volvo CE's sales and marketing director for the Middle East, said the new location had been operating for three to four months and had made a good start, quoting for many large projects.

Mr Fidan said FAMCO plans to establish Volvo Rents stories at other UAE locations next year, including one in Dubai. Originally, the intention had been to open the first store in Dubai, but the slowdown there made FAMCO switch to Abu Dhabi.

The aim is eventually for all Middle East countries to have Volvo Rents operations led by local dealers. However, Mr Fidan said the priority areas for the next three years will be the high volume markets of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Qatar, which together account for around 89-90% of all construction equipment sales in the region.

FAMCO (Al Futtaim Auto & Machines) is based in Dubai and has offices in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Ras Al Khaimah. As well as selling Volvo construction equipment, it is also a dealer for Merlo and SDMO and sells Volvo buses and trucks.