Mexico DHL to invest USD50 Mln 2005-2007

Global carrier and package delivery company DHL, a unit of the German postal operator Deutsche Post, plans to invest $50 mln (39.2 mln euro) for the period from 2005 to 2007 to expand in Mexico, DHL official Martin Alvarez said on February 8, 2005.

DHL plans to increase its fleet to 1,200 vehicles, to increase the number of its branches from the current 900, and to to carry out a technology upgrade.

The company also plans to improve its customer relationship management (CRM) through the expansion of its CRM centre in Mexico’s capital, which is the company’s third most important on a global level, after the two located in the USA.

DHL’s sales in Mexico grew between 15 pct and 20 pct year-on-year in 2004 and are expected to register a similar increase in 2005, Alvarez added. The company handles close to a million parcels per month and the country is its most important market in Latin America. DHL is currently considering to also expand in China.

DHL, which entered Mexico 25 years ago, holds close to a 25 pct share of the local market, the company’s president for the country, Leticia Navarro, said.

At present the company invests between $1.5 mln (1.17 mln euro) and $3.0 mln (2.3 mln euro) per year to improve its services, the company’s vice president for the country, Luis Erana, said.

Among the negative factors, which affected DHL’s operations in 2004, was the increase of oil prices, which pushed up the company’s costs by between 6.0 pct and 7.0 pct year-on-year.

http://www.economista.com.mx/,http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/