TRATON AG achieved a significant increase in deliveries of commercial vehicle in the first three quarters of 2018. Between January and September, the Group delivered some 15% more vehicles than in the prior-year period. In total, this amounted to 166,330 vehicles of the MAN Truck & Bus, Scania and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus brands. “Our entire team did a good job in the first nine months,“ says Andreas Renschler, CEO of TRATON AG and member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG. “However, the very strong sales performance of the first half of the year tapered off slightly in the third quarter.”
All three brands contributed to this development. The number of vehicles handed over to customers by MAN Truck & Bus rose by 15%, to 72,040. Scania’s deliveries of trucks and busses rose to 68,640 vehicles, around 7% more than in the previous year. Driven by the economic upswing in Brazil, demand for Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus vehicles improved significantly, by some 43%, to 27,360 units. In total, TRATON delivered 145,070 trucks (+12%) and 16,390 buses (+22%).
Growth in truck market across almost all regions
The persistently positive economic performance in the most important markets around the world provided tailwinds for the business in the first nine months.
With a market share of some 31% in the first nine months of 2018, TRATON remains the leader in the truck market of the EU28+2 region (EU, Norway, Switzerland). Benefiting from the continuing good performance of the European commercial vehicle market, the Group delivered 83,030 trucks, an increase of around 9% compared with the previous year.
In South America, the brands sold 29,630 trucks, thus boosting their vehicle deliveries by some 40% compared with the very poor prior-year period. Growth benefited in particular from increased demand in Brazil, following that country’s continuing economic recovery. TRATON remains the clear market leader in the Brazilian truck market, accounting for around 40%.
As a result of the sustained recovery of the Russian economy, the number of vehicles handed over to customers in Russia increased significantly, by some 17%, to 8,000 units.
In the Asia/Pacific region, the number of vehicles delivered declined by around 6% year-on-year, to 10,530 trucks, driven by factors such as weaker demand in China.
In Africa, the number of deliveries was stable at the previous year’s level, at 5,320 trucks. In the Middle East region, deliveries were down by around 10% to 5,220 trucks.
Smart partnerships boost regional presence and digitization
In addition, TRATON expanded its presence in Asia by entering into partnerships: An agreement was made with Sinotruk for the establishment of a joint venture to develop a heavy MAN truck for the Chinese market. And with the Japanese Hino Motors, TRATON will cooperate in the two fields of procurement and e- mobility in future. Moreover, TRATON has entered into another partnership with the US software specialist Solera for the development of joint solutions, such as fleet management, driver services and digital sales solutions. “Digital services are among the growth drivers of the future,” says Andreas Renschler. “We are already in a strong position in the digital environment and will follow this path consistently – using our own resources as well with as our partners.”
Innovative solutions and projects centered on alternative drives and digital solutions also shaped our other activities in the past quarter.