Demand driven partly by continuing robust growth in Europe and sharply rising demand in Brazil; flat sales in Africa, de-growth in APAC and Middle East
21 Feb 2019 | 6355 Views | By Autocar Professional Bureau
Traton has maintained its growth path in 2018. The Group sold 233,000 vehicles of the MAN, Scania, and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus brands, exceeding the prior-year figure by 14%. This is the highest number since the Group was established in 2015.
This positive development was driven partly by continuing ...
This is an Autocar Pro Plus article. Subscribe to continue reading.
Traton has maintained its growth path in 2018. The Group sold 233,000 vehicles of the MAN, Scania, and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus brands, exceeding the prior-year figure by 14%. This is the highest number since the Group was established in 2015.
This positive development was driven partly by continuing robust growth in Europe and sharply rising demand in Brazil. Growth was very dynamic in the first six months of 2018, but weakened slightly in the second half the year, coming in at 10% in the fourth quarter of 2018. “We fully achieved our growth targets,” said Andreas Renschler, Traton CEO and member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG. “This success was driven by outstanding products, good customer proximity, a strong team, and a continued stable and attractive market overall.”
All three brands contributed to the third consecutive vehicle sales record, after 2016 and 2017: At 102,560, MAN registered the most vehicle deliveries, selling significantly more vehicles (+14%) than in the previous year. Scania delivered 96,480 trucks and buses (+6%). Demand for vehicles of Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus (VWCO) increased considerably against the background of the economic upswing in Brazil, advancing by some 40% to 36,360 units.
While deliveries of trucks from Traton brands climbed by 10% to 202,490, demand for buses grew by an even more substantial 18% to 22,630 units. Strong impetus for the bus business came particularly from South America and Africa.
In view of the high unit sales figures, Renschler said: “Here we are also benefiting from a good balance between our regional alignment and the strength of our core markets.” Thus TRATON remains the leading truck supplier in the EU28+2 region (EU, Norway, and Switzerland). Supported by another slight improvement in the European commercial vehicles market in 2018, the Group raised year-on-year unit sales in this region by about 9% to 116,690 trucks.
Traton also remains the clear leader in the Brazilian truck market. As Brazil is the region’s biggest market and the most important single market for VWCO, the country’s economic recovery is having an especially positive effect. The Traton brands delivered a total of 40,450 trucks in the South America region, representing a sharp increase of about 37% compared to a weak 2017.
Flat sales in Africa, degrowth in APAC and Middle East
Vehicle sales in Africa remained on a level with the previous year at 7,590 trucks. The number of vehicles sold in the Asia/Pacific region declined by about 9% to 13,600 trucks. Vehicle sales in the Middle East region fell by about 27% against the prior year to 6,910 trucks due in part to weaker demand in Turkey.
Against the background of the ongoing economic recovery in Russia, deliveries in that country increased by about 15% to 12,480 trucks.
“We want to be a global champion in our industry,” remarked Andreas Renschler. “Our steady growth in the past three years proves that: We are on the right track.”