STOCKHOLM (AFX) - SKF AB’s chief executive Tom Johnstone said he expects the North American vehicle market to remain weak in the first quarter, and the North American heavy truck market to be weak in 2007 as a whole.

‘If I look at North America, I would expect conditions to remain weak in the first quarter as well, but it’s early days yet,’ said Johnstone of the car market.

‘Its crystal clear that in the heavy truck market we will see a very big drop in demand in the North America market next year. But that’s not a big market for us,’ he said.

Speaking at the company’s post results conference, Johnstone also said overall sales in the first month of the fourth quarter had been ‘very weak’ at its troubled Automotive division.

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