MAN mother Traton with strong increase in sales - but chip crisis leaves deep skid marks

Created: 01/18/2022, 09:49 am

MAN's parent company, Traton, achieved a significant increase in sales last year.

© Sven Hoppe/dpa

The Munich commercial vehicle manufacturer Traton was able to close 2021 with great sales success - even the problem child MAN SE managed a plus.

But the lack of chips is slowing down growth.

Munich - The commercial vehicle manufacturer Traton was able to significantly improve its sales last year.

The company with the brands MAN SE and Scania sold 271,600 vehicles, 43 percent more than in the previous year.

Trucks in particular were good for Traton;

here sales jumped by almost half to 230,500 vehicles.

"The year 2021 was very challenging, mainly due to the delivery bottlenecks," said Traton boss Christian Levin.

The bottleneck has not yet been overcome.

The company benefits from the intensive cooperation between the brands.

"That's why I'm optimistic about 2022."

Traton's problem child MAN SE creates plus

In 2021, the Volkswagen subsidiary benefited above all from the takeover of the US commercial vehicle manufacturer Navistar.

Without this effect, sales would have increased by 27 percent.

Navistar has been part of Traton since the second half of 2021.

On the stock exchange, the figures were recorded with price gains: the Traton share gained around 1.5 percent.

Business was particularly good at Scania: the Swedes sold 90,400 vehicles, a quarter more trucks and buses.

The problem child MAN managed an increase of 15 percent to 93,700 vehicles, mainly thanks to high demand for trucks.

At the Brazilian brand Volkswagen Caminhoes e Onibus, sales even jumped by 55 percent to 57,400 vehicles.

No comparative figures are available at Navistar;

in the second half of the year, the US company sold 30,300 trucks and buses.

Chip crisis affects Traton

The chip crisis hit Traton in the second half of 2021, CFO Annette Danielski spoke in the fall of 10,000 to 15,000 trucks that could not be built due to the bottlenecks and could possibly only be delivered in 2022.

The demand for commercial vehicles, on the other hand, is high.

Incoming orders at Traton jumped by two-thirds to 360,000 vehicles last year.

Excluding Navistar, this corresponds to an increase of 47 percent.