Arquus press conference: review on year 2019 and previsions for 2020.

On January 25 2020, Army Recognition editorial team participated in Arquus press conference held in Paris. For this occasion, the armored vehicle manufacturer, Arquus (a subsidiary of Volvo Group) came back on its results for the year 2019 and presented the opportunities for the company's future.

Arquus Bastion G5 under mission in Mali (Picture source: Arquus)

The French manufacturer of armored vehicles Arquus (ex-Renault Trucks Defense) noted a sharp increase in its activities for 2019 especially with the orders and the deliveries of Griffon and Jaguar armored vehicles destined to France and Belgium. Indeed, France is to receive 1872 Griffon and 936 Jaguar by the end of the military programming law in 2025.

After a rise in turnover of 25% in 2018 and 38% in 2019, Emmanuel Levacher, the President and CEO of Arquus forecasts a growth of 10% in turnover in 2020, a weaker figure due to the structure of the order book but which will stabilize the industrial organization "after a two years period of strong growth", the CEO added.

To keep up the pace, the subsidiary of Volvo Group can count on a robust order book estimated at 5.8 billion euros at the end of 2019, including 1.5 billion firm contracts. Last year, Arquus totalled 1.2 billion euros in orders, including 750 million firm contracts.

Arquus can also rely on France to pursue its activity thanks to the 2019-2025 military programming law both in terms of new manufacturing and maintenance in operational condition (MCO), which represents 35% of turnover. By the way, the manufacturer is preparing itself to respond to the future call for tenders of the French Army to replace its entire fleet of trucks.

Among the important export contracts won in 2019, Arquus, with its a portfolio of 60 client countries, is participating in the big contract Camo (armored vehicles) in Belgium (214 million euros for Arquus on a total of 1.5 billion). The deal provides for the supply of 382 Griffons and 60 Jaguars, for 214 million euros.

In terms of deliveries, Arquus also handed over 1,276 logistics trucks to the Canadian army as part of a partnership with Prevost and Mack (United States), as well as 61 Bastion armored vehicles and 84 logistics trucks at G5 Sahel Summit to Niger, Tchad and Senegal.

According to some sources, the manufacturer is on its way to get a new important contract in Kuwait with its VAB Mark 3 and in Qatar with VBCI from Nexter, a possible deal which could also increase its order book by around 300 million euros.

Arquus Scarabee armored vehicle (Picture source: Arquus)