In 2024, Husqvarna Group navigated market challenges by strengthening our organizational foundation, increasing operational efficiency, and maintaining a continued focus on strategy execution.
In his CEO statement, Pavel Hajman (CEO until 11 August 2025) discusses this year’s notable innovations, sustainability milestones, and how the Group continues to create long-term sustainable value for customers and shareholders.
How would you describe Husqvarna Group’s performance in 2024?
2024 has certainly been a challenging year, but also a transformative one for Husqvarna Group. We anticipated that the global economic downturn would impact our markets, and throughout the year, adverse weather conditions across Europe and North America further affected parts of the gardening sector. Our sales declined organically by 7 percent and the operating margin amounted to 6.6 percent (excluding items affecting comparability). While the market challenges are evident in our 2024 financial results, we head into 2025 with a strong operational foundation and with the evolving needs of our customers top of mind. In 2024, we delivered a strong cash flow, achieved good growth in key areas such as robotic mowers for commercial turf care and battery-powered products, continued to invest in innovation and low-carbon solutions, and successfully implemented cost-reduction initiatives. Furthermore, we strengthened our operational excellence, accelerated our AI initiatives, and prepared for several exciting product launches ahead of the 2025 season. We are very disappointed with the results in 2024 and they are not in line with our long-term financial targets. However, I am convinced that we have the right strategic focus and the team in place to enhance our financial results and create sustainable value for all stakeholders.
The strategy focuses on ‘Sustainable value creation’. What do these words mean to Husqvarna Group?
Sustainable value creation describes our commitment to continuously deliver returns to our stakeholders. For our customers, it means offering user-friendly, high-performance and high-quality products that meet environmental standards. From a corporate perspective, it’s about delivering long-term and consistent value to our shareholders. Central to this strategy is Sustainovate, our sustainability framework that includes ambitious goals for carbon reduction, circular innovation, and inspiring people to make sustainable choices. From a product segment perspective our core areas for value creation are robotic mowers, battery-powered products, smart watering and professional solutions.
Considering this year’s challenges, how have you worked to strengthen your resilience and build a stronger Group?
Efforts to strengthen our resilience are ongoing both at the Group level and within each division, balancing short-term cost management with long-term investments in innovation and go-to-market activities. Across all three divisions, we have managed costs rigorously, adjusted our organization and actively reduced inventory levels. Since 2022, we have reduced inventory by nearly 25 percent. Our previously launched cost-savings program is projected to save around SEK 1.2bn by 2025, while a new program introduced in late 2024 is expected to contribute an additional SEK 500m, with the majority of the savings realized by 2025. We have also taken steps to increase operational efficiency across divisions. In the Forest & Garden Division, we are initiating a new phase in North America by divesting our manufacturing facility in Orangeburg, SC, to Flex Ltd., and entering a long-term supplier agreement with them to ensure continued production of the division’s key products in the U.S. This program will build profitability, improve capital efficiency, enhance production flexibility and strengthen our competitiveness in North America. Related cost savings are expected to amount to SEK 350m by 2030. Our digital transformation and AI scaling initiatives are other cornerstones for building operational excellence. The AI Centre of Excellence consolidates expertise within the Group to support product development, customer experience and increase efficiency across divisions. This year, we expanded our approach to AI, moving from proof-of-concept testing to a cross-divisional rollout aimed at deploying AI solutions at scale across the company
Husqvarna Group’s continued leadership also relies on outstanding innovation and expansion in growth areas. How have you progressed in this regard in 2024?
To maintain our market position and technological leadership, it’s essential to sustain a high pace of innovation and invest in R&D. Approximately five percent of our annual revenue is consistently allocated to product development in our key areas. This year, the pace of innovation has been high across divisions. In 2025, we will for instance launch a total of 13 boundary wirefree robotic mowers under the Husqvarna and Gardena brands, targeting to build on our global market leadership position for both residential consumers and the professional segment. For our professional customers, these launches address key needs in golf course and green space maintenance. For our residential customer segment, we now offer a full range of robotic mowers with boundary wire-free navigation for easy installation and reliable use. Additionally, several other innovations are on the way, including the launch of Husqvarna Autogrinder, a self-operating floor grinder from the Husqvarna Construction Division. New chainsaws will be launched during the year as well as additions to Gardena’s smart watering segment, designed to tackle both water scarcity and lawn care challenges. Furthermore, the Gardena Division’s acquisition of U.S.-based ETwater broadens the division’s customer scope and means that each division now have a presence in the professional segment.
As you’ve mentioned, low-carbon and resource-smart solutions are central to your strategy. How have you progressed toward your Sustainovate goals, and how will this strategic focus drive future growth?
We firmly believe that advancing a sustainable, low-carbon, and resource-smart offering is key to driving long-term profitability and growth as well as gaining a competitive edge. This is underscored by shifting customer preferences and increasing regulatory pressure for low-carbon products and circularity. Autonomous and electric solutions also provide additional customer benefits, including enhanced safety, reduced noise levels, and greater ease of use. I am proud to say that in 2024, Husqvarna Group successfully surpassed a 50 percent reduction of our absolute CO2 emissions compared to our 2015 baseline – a significant milestone achieved alongside a 34 percent increase in sales since 2015, illustrating that growth can indeed be decoupled from emissions. We’ve also made notable progress toward our Circular goal. In 2024, we introduced 10 additional circular innovations, bringing our total to 37 across the Group since 2021. Through our circularity efforts, we are reimagining both our products and business models to offer a truly resource-smart customer experience. Furthermore, we’ve made significant progress toward our People target, inspiring 3.9 million people to make more sustainable choices by purchasing our products.
You have described every colleague as an essential part of Husqvarna Group’s overall success. How do you do to create an outstanding company to work for?
Having a strong, shared company culture and values that we all stand behind is a strategic enabler to realize our strategy, and this is especially true during more challenging market conditions. Building this culture is valuable not only for us, but also for our ability to attract and develop top talent, ensuring that we work together toward our shared goals. This year, we worked within our Winning through Culture framework to unify values across the organization, creating a shared sense of belonging and purpose that is vital in a fastpaced business environment. We have also focused on strengthening our commitment to learning and nurturing curiosity. Our Curious by Nature learning platform, launched in 2023, has already achieved a 96 percent adoption rate, supporting ongoing learning and development. I want to take this opportunity to thank each employee for their efforts this year. Our employees have truly been the cornerstone of our strategy execution. Their dedication and innovative spirit have driven advancements across various areas, from improving operational efficiency to spearheading groundbreaking product development and delivering on our sustainability targets.
Looking ahead, what are Husqvarna Group’s key priorities for 2025 and beyond?
Our priorities for the coming years are guided by our commitment to our customers through innovation, sustainability, and operational excellence. By expanding our capabilities in robotic mowers, battery-powered products, smart watering and professional solutions, we are positioning Husqvarna Group to lead in areas that matter most to our customers and communities. To fuel this growth, we will be prioritizing operational excellence, with a strong emphasis on utilizing shared digital platforms to drive efficiency and elevate the customer experience. By investing in areas with long-term growth potential, we aim to stay ahead of market trends and help set the standard for innovation and environmental stewardship across the industries we serve. This is how we will ensure Husqvarna Group’s continued prosperity in the years ahead.
Pavel Hajman
CEO ( until 11 August 2025)
This CEO message is featured in our 2024 Annual and Sustainability Report.
Read the full report here: Annual Report 2024