Sales during the quarter rose 6 percent to SEK 53.1 billion, while deliveries rose 7 percent to 26,274 vehicles.
The fact that order intake is rising so clearly is due to “built-up demand,” says Levin. Europe is doing well, but so is Latin America and the company's factory in China.
"We've been waiting a long time for this. We thought that orders would start coming in as early as 2025, but then the tariffs came and put a damper on that increase," says Levin.
“Difficult environment”
The order increase increases the Södertälje-based truck manufacturer's investment opportunities.
It is always positive for Södertälje that we bring in more business. It builds security, secures jobs and allows us to continue investing in the future.
Will you be able to hire more people?
It's nothing that I want to speculate about. It's still an incredibly difficult world out there, you have to remember that.
The Iran war is causing problems for the truck manufacturer.
We have been affected in every way across our value chain - from higher energy costs to huge difficulties in delivering vehicles to customers in that region. So there are only negative consequences, at least in the short term, from this.
In the longer term?
In the long term, one can certainly hope that the transition to vehicles that are not fossil-dependent and a system that is not fossil-dependent will go a little faster.
Substandard from China
European truck manufacturers are not as clearly pressured by Chinese competitors as in the passenger car market.
"We have not experienced any major competitive pressure even though they have taken over certain specific markets. We as Scania have done very well," says Levin.
Why is it that the Chinese are slower with trucks?
You have to think of a truck as part of a production system, as a machine really. And what is so important then is that the stuff always works. To be honest, the Chinese products have been substandard in terms of quality. They haven't lived up to the standard.
In the first half of the year, Scania's listed owner Traton's operating profit fell 22 percent to 975 million euros. This was a better result than the average forecast of 855 million euros, according to Bloomberg.
Traton's shares surge 9 percent on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.
