VW subsidiary Traton
The commercial vehicle manufacturer cannot keep up with the production of the vehicles ordered and is holding on to the brakes when it comes to orders.
(Photo: Reuters)
The commercial vehicle manufacturer Traton cannot keep up with the production of the ordered vehicles and is holding on to the brakes when it comes to orders. At the same time, the economic slowdown and rising interest rates are making themselves felt. In the first six months of the current financial year, the Traton brands Scania, MAN, Navistar and VWTB received orders for 125,300 vehicles, which is almost a quarter less than a year ago, as the company announced on Wednesday.
The Volkswagen subsidiary referred to the still very high order backlog, which is why the brands are still very reluctant to accept orders. Nevertheless, customers have to be patient: In Europe, the delivery times are between six and twelve months, depending on the vehicle, in the USA it is more than nine months, according to the company.
Traton boss Christian Levin spoke of an environment characterized by a high level of uncertainty. In addition, the supply chains are still unpredictable. “However, we are also seeing lower transport activity in some markets, inflationary pressures are continuing and we are seeing significantly higher interest rates.”
Still, the company’s individual brands have done well, he said. MAN, which had been in crisis for a long time, also increased its sales and profits sharply. Sales jumped 41 percent to seven billion euros in the first half of the year, and the return of 7.7 percent was just below the target of eight percent. The reduction of 3,500 jobs is almost complete, Levin said, and the relocation of production to the Polish plant in Kraków is progressing well.
Overall, Traton generated sales of 22.9 billion euros from January to June, 27 percent more than in the previous year. Adjusted operating profit was almost two billion euros, more than twice as high as a year ago. The significantly increased costs for energy, raw materials and other supplier parts have been compensated with price measures, it said. Deliveries increased by 22 percent to 168,100 vehicles. However, due to missing parts, the assembly lines stood still for weeks a year ago, especially at MAN.
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