The result compares with a profit of $US125 million for the March 2008 quarter. The Fiat-owned Case and New Holland manufacturer said that while its construction equipment division was suffering, sales of its high horsepower farm equipment were still strong.In a bid to further combat the ongoing downturn, CNH said it was planning to invest approximately $US250 million over the next 12 months to reduce costs and improve operating efficiency.“CNH acted quickly to address fast-changing and difficult market conditions in the first quarter of 2009,” CNH chief executive officer Harold Boyanovsky said.“We continued to reduce construction equipment production schedules around the world and slowed output of selected agricultural equipment products in response to market difficulties in the CIS and Latin American regions. “The global economic environment continued to weigh heavily on the capital equipment markets and industry sales of both construction and agricultural equipment. This was the third consecutive quarter in which CNH’s construction equipment net sales have fallen and the underlying economic conditions have continued to decline in the month of April.”
