Standfist Traton Group sets new highs in 2022, with unit sales increasing by 12% year on year, partly due to the consolidation of the Navistar subsidiary in the United States.
The Traton Group, one of the biggest producers of commercial vehicles in the world and a division of the Volkswagen Group, posted record unit sales in 2022 and sold more than 300,000 vehicles for the first time ever despite the substantial impact of the continued severe strain on supply chains and especially of production at MAN Truck & Bus standing still for several weeks.
Higher figures were reported both in the truck business and the business with buses. At 305,500 (2021: 271,600) vehicles, the Traton Group’s unit sales worldwide were 12% higher than in the previous year. Without taking Navistar’s first-time full-year consolidation into account, unit sales of the Traton Group would have declined by 7%.
“2022 was a year overshadowed by the war in Ukraine,” says Christian Levin, CEO of the Traton Group. “This war also had an adverse impact on our business activities and resulted in additional strain on our supply chains, which were already struggling as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Global sales
The rise in unit sales was partly attributable to the 10% increase in the truck business, with 254,300 (2021: 230,500) vehicles sold. Driven by the unit sales in North America, sales of buses worldwide grew 57% to 29,600 (2021: 18,900) vehicles due to the consolidation. Unit sales of MAN TGE vans came in at 21,600 (2021: 22,200) vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 3%.
The Traton Group brands were restrictive in accepting new orders in light of already having almost as many orders on the books as there is capacity to produce in an entire year and the difficulty in predicting the further development of the costs of energy and bought-in components.
The Traton Group recorded a 7% decrease in incoming orders, which stood at 334,600 (2021: 360,000) vehicles in 2022. Incoming orders of trucks declined by 10% to 274,300 (2021: 305,700) vehicles. The bus business, on the other hand, saw a significant increase in incoming orders, which grew 45% to 32,300 (2021: 22,200) vehicles.
All Traton Group brands were able to lift their incoming orders of buses significantly in 2022. Incoming orders of MAN TGE vans were down 12% at 28,000 (2021: 32,000) vehicles. The book-to-bill ratio, or the ratio of the Group’s incoming orders to its unit sales, was 1.1 (2021: 1.3).
“Our MAN brand was particularly affected by these difficulties,” says Levin. “I am so proud that in spite of these extraordinary challenges, our customers stay loyal to us and that together with our team, we were able to lift the Group’s unit sales and even record a new all-time high: for the first time ever, our brands sold more than 300,000 vehicles in a single year.
In fact, that figure could have been even higher without the strained supply chains, which meant that we were unfortunately unable to satisfy our customers’ total demand for innovative trucks with better fuel efficiency as quickly and completely as we endeavor to,” adds Levin. “In 2023, we will be concentrating on working our way through our full order books and supporting our customers’ business with the latest technology.”
The Traton Group brands
Scania’s unit sales of trucks and buses dropped by 6% to 85,200 (2021: 90,400) vehicles in 2022. Truck unit sales declined by 7% to 80,200 (2021: 85,900) vehicles, while unit sales of buses grew 13% year-on-year to 5,000 (2021: 4,400) vehicles. Scania was extremely restrictive in accepting new orders, which meant that its incoming orders stood at 82,100 (2021: 116,800) vehicles at the end of the year, a decrease of 30%.
MAN Truck & Busonly saw its total unit sales decrease by 10% to 84,500 (2021: 93,700) vehicles despite production standing still for six weeks at its truck plants in Munich and Krakow as well as production stops at other MAN sites. While truck unit sales declined by 13% to 58,100 (2021: 66,800) vehicles, unit sales of buses were 4% higher than in the previous year at 4,800 (2021: 4,600) vehicles. Unit sales of MAN TGE vans came in at 21,600 (2021: 22,200) vehicles, 3% less than in the previous year. MAN Truck & Bus’s incoming orders stood at 109,700 (2021: 143,500) vehicles, down 24% year-on-year, since it was equally restrictive in accepting additional orders.
Navistar has been consolidated in the Traton Group since July 1, 2021. It reported unit sales of 81,900 vehicles in 2022 with 69,100 trucks and 12,800 buses sold. Navistar’s incoming orders came in at 86,000 vehicles.
Volkswagen Truck & Bus saw its unit sales decrease by 6% to 54,100 (2021: 57,400) vehicles in 2022, primarily as a result of weaker demand in Brazil. Truck unit sales were down 11% at 47,100 (2021: 52,800) vehicles. By contrast, the company’s bus business grew by over 50% year-on-year with 7,100 (2021: 4,600) vehicles sold. Incoming orders remained on a level with the previous year at 57,000 (2021: 57,200) vehicles.