vehicle construction
Truck manufacturer Volvo increases profits despite chip crisis
Despite the chip crisis, the Swedish truck manufacturer Volvo was able to increase its profits. Photo: Nicolas Maeterlinck/BELGA/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Good business despite Corona and the global lack of chips. Among other things, rising material costs are likely to cause difficulties for the commercial vehicle manufacturer Volvo this year.
The Swedish commercial vehicle manufacturer Volvo increased sales and profits last year despite the general shortage of chips.
In the fourth quarter, however, increased material costs and problems in the supply chain eroded profits, the truck and bus manufacturer said on Friday. The global supply of semiconductors and other parts remains unstable, said CEO Martin Lundstedt. There will be further interruptions and production stops at trucks and in other parts of the group. Volvo competes with Daimler Truck and the Volkswagen subsidiary Traton, among others.
In the second year of Corona, Volvo increased sales by 10 percent to a good 372 billion Swedish crowns (35.6 billion euros). The surplus increased by almost two-thirds to 33 billion crowns. In the fourth quarter, however, the manufacturer was unable to convert an increase in sales into more profit. Due to positive special effects in the same period last year and the increased cost of materials, the surplus fell by 14 percent to 8.1 billion crowns.