The Liebherr Group has set a new record with sales of 14.042 billion euros in 2023, up 11.5%! Overall, sales in the earthmoving, materials handling, special foundation machinery, mobile rubber-tired and crawler cranes, tower cranes, concrete technology and mining product segments exceeded 9.5 billion euros, 11.6% above the previous year's level. This positive business trend was observed in virtually all regions, and particularly in Europe: "sales were particularly strong in Germany, France and Spain", says the Group in its press release.
Mobile cranes: also a record!
Sales of mobile and lattice cranes reached 3.45 billion euros, up 14.7% on 2022. For the first time in its history, Liebherr delivered more than 2,000 new machines from its Ehingen site. The global market for mobile and crawler cranes continued to grow in 2023, driven mainly by infrastructure projects and increasing energy requirements. The flagship markets of Europe (42.2% of sales) and North America reported strong growth, underpinned in particular by positive trends in Germany, France and the USA. In view of its good order intake, Liebherr has an optimistic outlook for 2024 and anticipates further growth in the mobile and crawler crane sectors.
Investments
By 2023, the Group has invested 634 million euros in research and development: new product development, alternative propulsion systems and digitalization. Liebherr is working on electric drives, alternative fuels for conventional combustion engines and hydrogen propulsion. In 2023, the focus will be on the development of new battery-powered electric machines and the production of several prototypes. Investments were also made to reduce carbon emissions at the Ehingen site. 2023 also saw an acceleration in the development of various digital platforms: the MyLiebherr portal is the central online platform bringing together the Group's services and offerings.
Production sites and the international sales and service network benefited from record investments totalling 1.03 billion euros. The Ehingen site, for example, is currently being expanded to meet demand for mobile and crawler cranes.
Looking ahead to 2024, Liebherr has started the new financial year with a "very solid" order book. In a complex international economic environment, the Group should be able to compensate for uneven performance across product families thanks to its diversification and international stature. "Under the influence of the economic transformation processes underway in many countries, demand for large cranes and raw materials is increasing worldwide. Potential outlets for Liebherr", says the Group.
At the end of 2023, Liebherr employed 53,659 people worldwide, up 4.6% year-on-year.
