Increased order intake during second quarter is an encouraging sign that the North American truck market has bottomed out, said Volvo CEO Leif Johansson,
but he added that uncertainty remains regarding the demand for new trucks after stricter emissions standards become effective on Oct. 1.
Volvo and Mack deliveries in North America were up 9% in second quarter, to 10,592 vehicles. The company said the backlog was up 16%. Through the first six months of this year Volvo delivered 77,103 trucks worldwide, compared to 82,084 in the first six months of 2001. First half deliveries of Mack trucks in North America totaled 11,030 units, down 12% from the same period a year ago. Deliveries of Volvo trucks totaled 7,004 units, down 5% from last year. Sales of Volvo and Renault trucks in Europe decreased 8% in the second half.
Johansson said the new Volvo FH and FM models are now in full production in Europe and a new Volvo truck program, based on the same technology as the FH and FM models, will be introduced in North America later this year.
The company posted a 20% decline in second quarter net income, from 1.36 billion kronor to 1.08 billion kronor ($114 million). Volvo said most of the drop was due to reduced income from its stake in Scania, another Swedish-based truck maker. Sales for the period were 49 billion kronor ($5.2 billion) compared to 47 billion kronor second quarter 2001.
Truck sales for the quarter totaled 32.56 billion kronor ($3.5 billion), compared to 29.26 billion a year ago. Operating income for the truck division was 483 kronor versus 639 kronor for the same period a year ago.