Bomag confidence

Despite declines in many of its markets, Bomag's president Jörg Unger remains confident about the future. "I don't feel confident because of the crisis," he told CE, "but I do have confidence in the future and infrastructure is a strong sector.

"I believe that markets with natural resources will be the first to bounce back. Particularly I see the Russian market strengthening because there is such a big infrastructure need there."

Talking exclusively with CE, Mr Unger said that infrastructure investment limits the capability of any country, including Germany, to grow.

"Germany has become so reliant on external markets that have now been hit by the crisis," he said. "Germany's small internal market is insufficient to compensate for the negative knock on exports. As a result and against this backdrop we are adjusting production and hours to suit the current conditions.

"We're part of a Group, which is a big advantage because it means we're almost independent of banks," said Mr Unger. "That said, we want to increase our share in the asphalt market and we're confident we can achieve this through offering good value equipment."

While Stage IIIB emissions compliance drains resources at the same time as the global crisis hits sales, Bomag is pressing ahead with engine and non-engine developments across its range. "We will show more at Bauma next year than we did three years ago," he said.

"Despite the considerable costs associated with meeting Stage IIIB compliance, our research and development department will continue to offer innovative advances across the range."