Daimler Trucks Sees ‘Significant Profit’ for 2015

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Transport Topics / February 25, 2015

Daimler Trucks said it expects “significant profit” this year and projects a 10% increase in its North American heavy- and medium-duty truck sales.

The OEM said it nearly reached its 2015 target of 500,000 trucks worldwide last year, selling about 496,000 trucks, its highest level since 2006.

It is targeting sales of 700,000 units in 2020 while projecting a midterm earnings before interest and taxes rate of 8%, Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler said in a Feb. 23 statement.

European markets in 2015 likely will remain flat compared with last year, and Daimler said it expects a slight drop in Japan. It projects a 10% increase in Indonesia and said the “weak period in Brazil probably will persist” with a decline of about 10%.

The company, which makes Freightliner and Western Star trucks in North America, touted its “fully integrated powertrain” in that region and said that one in four of its Freightliner Cascadia models sold has an integrated powertrain with a combination of engine, transmission and axles from a single source.

“We will consistently focus on our strengths,” Wolfgang Bernhard, chief of Daimler Trucks, said in the statement. “We are very well-positioned worldwide and offer our customers trucks that are best tailored to their requirements with leading technologies . . . [and] will consistently push forward our platform strategy.”