Annual Report 2020
Push for growth in the USA
The global construction industry experienced a downturn in all markets, except for China.
Sales in Liebherr’s Tower Cranes product segment in 2020 consequently fell below the previous year’s figures, with a particularly sharp fall in the EU, the segment’s most important sales region. Among the non-EU countries, Switzerland saw the highest increase in sales. Business also performed very positively in North America, Africa and the Near and Middle East, driven by growth in the USA and Algeria. Sales declined in Central and South America, Asia and Oceania.
An interdisciplinary team of scientists at RWTH Aachen is working alongside a consortium of European companies to develop the 'Construction Site of the Future' under real conditions.
Development focus “Construction Site of the Future”
Following the launch of the new EC-B cranes in 2019, out of which three models were fitted with the new fibre rope, the first fibre rope cranes were successfully commissioned in 2020. Another highlight was the product segment’s involvement in the construction of the three-towered LYFE business complex in the Bnei Brak industrial zone (Israel). Working on this construction project, which began in 2018, are six external climbing Liebherr 190 HC-L 8/16 Litronic luffing tower cranes and a Liebherr high-top 280 EC-H 16 Litronic.
“The Construction Site of the Future” was a top research priority in the segment in 2020. Liebherr is a founding member of the Center Construction Robotics project, which was presented with an area of 10,000 m² to serve as a model construction site by the RWTH Aachen University in 2020. An interdisciplinary team of scientists at RWTH Aachen is working alongside a consortium of European companies to develop the construction site of the future under real conditions. New construction processes and products, networked machines, the use of robots, software solutions as well as teaching, working and communication concepts are put to the test. The segment is also working on alternative drive concepts for mobile cranes.
Liebherr is cautiously optimistic about the year ahead and anticipates a slight increase in sales in the Tower Cranes product segment.