Commercial Vehicles
New sales record for Commercial Vehicles business line
Demand for MPVs, recreational vehicles and light commercial vehicles continues to grow. The LT is succeeded by the new Crafter.
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
The Commercial Vehicles business line continued its positive development in fiscal year 2006. Sales to the dealership organization increased by 12.7% year-on-year to 445 thousand units. The Caddy continued to enjoy great popularity, recording rising sales in 2006. Global demand for the commercial vehicle model and the Caddy Life passenger car model was 137,738 units (+ 9.4%). The Caravelle/Multivan and Transporter models recorded a 13.4% increase in total sales, thereby defending their leading position in the German registration statistics for their segment. They thus again made a key contribution to the positive development of the Commercial Vehicles business line. The newly launched Crafter, the successor to the LT, also met with a positive response from the market.
Sales of heavy commercial vehicles, which are predominantly manufactured in Brazil, increased by 6.5% to a total of 37,347 units worldwide in the past fiscal year. 30,964 trucks were sold in the 5 to 45 tonnes weight classes, 2.6% more than in the previous year.
The Commercial Vehicles business line thus remained the market leader in Brazil. Sales of buses increased to 6,383 (4,882) thousand units.
At a total of 427 thousand units, the Commercial Vehicles business line produced approximately 6.2% more vehicles in fiscal year 2006 than in 2005. This figure does not include Crafter models, since these are manufactured in the DaimlerChrysler plants in Düsseldorf and Ludwigsfelde. A total of 170 (162) thousand Caravelle/Multivan, Transporter and LT models were manufactured at the main production facility in Hanover. The Poznan plant produced 167 thousand vehicles (+ 6.9%) in 2006. The Brazilian plant in Resende produced 35,223 heavy truck and bus chassis, 7.7% fewer than in the previous year.
COMMERCIAL VEHICLES
SALES REVENUE AND EARNINGS
At €8.3 billion, sales revenue generated by the Commercial Vehicles business line was 14.3% higher than in the previous year. This is attributable above all to the positive sales development of the Caddy, Caravelle/Multivan and Transporter models.
Operating profit was €101 million in fiscal year 2006, €5 million more than in the previous year. This earnings growth resulted mainly from the significant increase in volumes. However, the earnings were affected by upfront expenditures for the Crafter market launch and for the expansion of the product range.
PRODUCTION
