2018 was a year of continued growth and of records in many areas, while Scania carried out the biggest industrial transition in the company‘s history.

“Deliveries of trucks, buses and coaches, as well as engines reached all-time high levels, and so did service volume,” said Scania president and CEO Henrik Henriksson.

Scania‘s net sales amounted to SEK 137.1 billion, an increase of 11 percent compared with the previous year. Earnings rose to SEK 13,832 m., which gave an operating margin of 10.1 percent. Higher vehicle and service volume contributed positively and so did currency effects, while higher production costs for running double product ranges and disruptions in the supply chain had a negative effect on earnings.

Henriksson said with the changeover of production in Latin America during the first quarter of 2019, the company would have completed the global transition to Scania‘s new truck generation.

“This final stage of the changeover will lead to some limitations in the flexibility and capacity of our global production system. There is still a higher than normal cost situation in general for products and production related to the new truck generation. Measures to normalise cost levels have been introduced.

“With continued high capacity utilisation of our customers‘ installed truck fleets and Scania‘s continually improving service offering, which is built on data from more than 360,000 connected vehicles, our service business is continuing to grow. Service revenue increased by 12 percent in 2018 to a record high SEK 26.6 billion. Financial Services reported operating income at the all-time high level of SEK 1,440 million.”

Orders for trucks fell by 12 percent in 2018 compared with the high level during the previous year. Demand in Europe remains at a good level, with a high level of customer activity, but in Latin America, Brazil‘s recovery is progressing. In Asia, order bookings fell in 2018 compared with last year. Demand in Eurasia remains strong, even though orders decreased in Russia towards year-end. The buses and coaches segment has been negatively affected by a lower order intake in the Middle East but overall orders are in line with last year. In the engines business area, demand is strong in all segments.