Volvo Group raised its forecasts for registrations as the world’s second biggest truckmaker saw orders increase 32%. Volvo last week reported preliminary first-quarter results that prompted its shares to surge.
Pent-up need to replace aging fleets has buoyed demand, noticeably “on the truck side, where order intake rose as we gradually opened the order books for the second half,” Volvo Chief Executive Officer Martin Lundstedt said in a statement.
Volvo raised its projections for registration of heavy duty-trucks in Europe and North America to 320,000 in each region, up from 300,000 in January. Total truck order intake came in at just over 60,000 in the quarter, an increase of 32% from same quarter last year.
Thanks to improvements in supply chains, higher production and price increases, Volvo lifted its operating margin to 14% in the quarter, up from 12% in the corresponding quarter last year.