Daimler trucks at a premium
December 27, 2012German vehicle maker Daimler said on Thursday its truck business had continued to pick up despite the protracted eurozone debt crisis and sluggish global revenues on the international commercial vehicle market.
Daimler announced it sold 424,000 units worldwide from January through November of this year, thus posting a 14-percent year-on-year increase.
"We're satisfied with developments in 2012," Commercial Vehicle Sector CEO Andreas Renschler said in a statement in Munich. "We've managed to boost our sales despite a volatile market environment."
Well positioned for the future
Renschler said revenues had gone up because of rapidly growing demand for trucks in North America and Asia, while Brazil and Europe had proven to be rather weak markets.
Daimler's truck business outlook remains positive, with global annual growth in the sector expected to reach between 3 and 4 percent until 2020 with the German truck maker hoping to profit more than its rivals.
At least throughout 2012, Daimler managed to leave behind its strongest competitors, MAN and Scania. The two subsidiaries of the Volkswagen Group have been logging decreasing truck sales for months. In the car sector, though, Daimler has been trailing domestic rivals Audi and BMW.
hg/hc (dpa, Reuters)