At 259,328 vehicles, worldwide sales at Daimler Trucks plunged by 45% during the course of 2009. The division’s revenues declined by 36% to EUR18,360m. But after that eye-popping downturn, the company sees some improvement to the market environment ahead as well as continued efficiency gains in its manufacturing operations.

Daimler says that the truck market downturn in 2009 far exceeded normal cyclical fluctuations.

Andreas Renschler, member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG with responsibility for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses, said: “Our industry has always been very cyclical, which is why we are prepared to deal with market declines. Nevertheless, it’s clear that truck manufacturers will be hit particularly hard when the world economy contracts in a more dramatic manner than ever before. Conversely, however, it’s also true that when the economy recovers, truck manufacturers also recover, because you can’t have economic growth without freight transport or trucks.”

The market downturn in 2009 led Daimler Trucks to intensify cost management measures and launch new efficiency programs. The firm said that the ‘high degree of flexibility in Daimler Trucks production plants in Germany proved to be effective’. These plants, it said, can deal with a market contraction of up to 30% without having to resort to any special measures.

Renschler emphasised that “the great flexibility of our plants combined with short-time work allowed us to avoid layoffs in Germany and at the same time retain our permanent employees and their know-how, despite an almost 50-percent drop in demand. We do not have such opportunities in other markets, which is why personnel reductions became unavoidable elsewhere, for example in the US.”

Daimler also said it sees substantial growth momentum in the BRIC countries. Daimler said it sees growth ahead, even in Russia. China expects its market to rise to record levels this year, while Brazil is employing targeted incentives to stimulate its domestic market.

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Daimler Trucks says it is rigorously continuing its efforts to penetrate the BRIC markets, because it already sells one out of two trucks outside of the triad markets and around 13% of its sales take place in the BRIC countries. Andreas Renschler says: “At Daimler Trucks we are taking a customer-and market-driven approach toward penetrating these growth markets. The shape that our presence in a market takes — whether we penetrate the market through a partnership, a joint venture or a holding company — depends on the conditions in the country in question. We respond very individually to market conditions, and thus we make sure we have comprehensive know-how regarding each market.”

However, Daimler is cautious on global recovery prospects.

“Many regions show indications of at least the beginnings of a market recovery. Nonetheless, 2010 will be a challenging year. The general mood concerning the global economy is reserved, and it will take years before we once again reach the level we had attained before the crisis,” said Renschler commenting on the outlook for 2010.

“We have an EBIT target of EUR200m, and we want all of our business units to be in the black. Boosting efficiency will be just as important as increasing revenues. To achieve these goals, we will be launching a comprehensive product campaign as well as a consistent market offensive. Although this is an ambitious goal, our fantastic team and our strategic approach make us well prepared to face the challenges. Downturns show you if you are well positioned. We now know that our business system can handle what has been the biggest crisis in our history, and this gives us reason to be optimistic about how things will develop after recovery sets in.”