The continuing downturn in the North American market is largely to blame for a 7% drop in Volvo Global Trucks' sales through February.

Worldwide, the company delivered 26,017 trucks in the first two months of 2001 compared to 27,925 (including Mack and Renault) for the same period last year.
Deliveries to North America totaled 6,658 through February, down 35% from last year. That included 2,698 Volvo trucks, down 29% from the same period in 2000, and 3,960 Mack trucks, a 39% decline from last year. Order intake for North America was down 18%. In Asia, the company sold 577 Volvo trucks, a 54% increase from January and February last year.
Volvo Global President Tryggve Stehn said they are beginning to see a downturn in central Europe, while the eastern European market continues to be strong. Deliveries through February were up 6%, buoyed significantly by a 45% increase in Eastern European sales. The company said order intake for all of Europe was down 7%.
Mack Trucks contributed a total 4,152 vehicles to the Volvo total. In addition to North American sales, Mack delivered 88 trucks to South America, a 300% increase from the same period last year. Volvo Global sold a total of 697 trucks in South America, up 37% from last year.
Renault V.I. global deliveries through February were up 8% from a year earler, due mainly to higher sales of light and medium duty trucks. Renault sales in Europe were up 7% overall and 54% in Eastern Europe.