Daimler trucks sales surging in Asia, NAFTA

FRANKFURT (Reuters): Truck sales by industry leader Daimler were up 23% in the first seven months of the year, thanks to strong demand in Asia and North America for its Freightliner and Fuso vehicles, a top executive said on Friday.

“As a global truck manufacturer we are less affected by a shrinking European market than other manufacturers, since other regions like North America are growing,” Daimler Trucks chief executive Andreas Renschler told Reuters.

Its January-July sales rose to 268,344 trucks, as volumes in Asia and the North American Free Trade Association (NAFTA) region rose 52% and 33% respectively. Sales elsewhere fell 8%. Asia now accounts for four out of every 10 trucks Daimler delivers.

Due to recent deals to expand production into emerging markets such as China and Russia, Renschler said he did not see any more gaps on the map in need of production sites, although it may develop another assembly plant.

Speaking ahead of the week-long Hanover truck show that begins on Sept. 20, Renschler reaffirmed his division’s full-year forecasts for the overall market and for the company’s own operating profits to at least be flat compared with last year.

He was also confident that next year should also see good results from its emerging market activities.

“Our new Indian subsidiary Bharat Benz will only require marginal investments starting next year following the roughly 120 million euros ($152 million) invested this year... The joint ventures with Foton in China contributes positively to our profits and the Kamaz joint venture in Russia is profitable,” he said.