Daimler’s Earnings Improve in 3Q

[kscarbel]

Transport Topics / October 24, 2013

German truck and auto maker Daimler AG reported “significantly improved” earnings in the third quarter compared to a year earlier, including a 53.2% increase in profit and a 4% increase in sales in its truck unit.

“This shows that the high investments we have made were money well spent,” Dieter Zetsche, chairman of Daimler’s board of management, said in an Oct. 24 statement.

Revenue in the truck segment was 8 billion euro ($11.04 billion), a 1% decrease from the year-ago quarter. Daimler blamed this on changes in exchange rates, and said after adjusting for that, revenue increased 8%.

Daimler Trucks had a profit of 522 million euro ($720.6 million), a 4.2% increase.

Referring specifically to truck sales in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Daimler said “it has been possible to maintain stable sales figures despite the recent decline in demand from the market, which has led to significant growth in market share in Classes 6-8.”

Daimler sells the Freightliner and Western Star truck brands in North America, as well as the Detroit brand of diesel engines, transmissions and axles.