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With 81,700 orders received between January and March 2021, the TRATON GROUP has reported its best quarter so far, achieving an increase of more than 50 percent. This is attributable to the truck business, which has recently been strong. 78,700 orders for trucks, including MAN TGE vans, correspond to an increase of 62 percent in the first quarter. Incoming orders for trucks over 6t in Europe (EU27+3), an important market for the Company, rose by 65 percent year-on-year. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh sharply on the bus business, particularly on coaches, in the first quarter, with bus orders declining by 46 percent to 3 000 vehicles. Starting in March of the prior-year quarter, the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic led to substantial uncertainty, which was reflected in the incoming orders.

“A year ago, we saw how quickly the pandemic hit the commercial vehicle business. Now, we are seeing our customers’ orders pick up again just as quickly. One of the reasons for this is how well our new truck generations have been received by our customers. 81 700 orders in just one quarter is the best result the TRATON GROUP has achieved so far,” said TRATON CEO Matthias Gründler. The TRATON GROUP had already reported on key financial indicators of the first quarter of 2021 on the basis of preliminary figures on April 19. Today, it has published its Interim Statement as of March 31, 2021.

Unit sales were up 31 percent at 60,300 vehicles, the Group’s sales revenue increased by 15 percent to €6.5 billion (3M 2020: €5.7 billion), and the Group’s adjusted operating profit tripled to €516 million (3M 2020: €161 million). Adjusted operating return on sales rose by 5 percentage points to 7.9 percent (3M 2020: 2.8 percent), a figure that TRATON confirmed in this Interim Statement. This means that all key performance indicators have already surpassed the figures seen in the first quarter 2019, thus going over and above the level reported before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The TRATON GROUP had revised its outlook for the current fiscal year upward on April 19. The raised outlook is now confirmed: the TRATON GROUP’s operating return on sales is expected to range between 5.0 and 7.0 percent (before revision: 5.0 to 6.0 percent). The cash conversion rate in the current fiscal year is no longer considered a meaningful indicator due to the planned restructuring of MAN Truck & Bus. The TRATON GROUP is expecting net cash flow in the Industrial Business segment to range between €500 million and €700 million for the current year.

The forecast does not contain any expenses or payments for the MAN Truck & Bus restructuring program and does not include the impact of the planned Navistar takeover. The ranges reflect the continuing high level of uncertainty regarding the further course of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated countermeasures taken by the affected countries, as well as their potential impact on production and supply chains.