Logistics, transportation, and infrastructure will be needed in the future. 2025 has a number of challenging parameters, but we have a strong capability within the group, says Martin Lundstedt.
We are a global company. We have operations in over 150 countries. So we are used to taking into account different types of changes in trade patterns, he adds.
Lowered forecast for North America
Profit and revenue fall short of expectations in the report for the first quarter of the year from AB Volvo. And margins are being squeezed. In the report, the forecast for North America is lowered by 25,000 to 275,000 truck deliveries this year.
On the stock exchange, AB Volvo's B-share initially fell by around 2 percent after the report, only to recover to plus 0.8 percent after a few hours of trading.
A cautious stance among North American customers in the customs chaos and the lack of a pre-purchase effect from what would have been new emission regulations in 2027 means that demand in North America is not reaching what was previously believed.
The situation is special, according to Lundstedt, since the turbulence Volvo is currently struggling with largely comes from the world's largest economy. Moreover, there have been many sudden turns in the messages.
But we also have the opportunity to influence this. We have strong regional value chains, not least for the truck business. We are using this now to think about how we should adjust flows and adjust production volumes and work closely with customers to try to understand this. It's an intense effort that's underway.
"Reviewing flows"
Despite Volvo producing 100 percent of what is sold in the USA in the USA itself, the company is struggling with US tariffs on various types of input goods in production.
Here, we need to work on, both in the short and medium term, reviewing which flows we should have when it comes to these input goods – to be able to optimize both cost and the overall picture. But we must also work on the commercial terms. A certain part of this will be passed on to our customers and their customers, says Lundstedt.
In the USA, Volvo is flagging personnel reductions. But in Sweden, personnel needs are currently pointing upwards as demand from other directions is going in the right direction, according to the Volvo CEO.
We are seeing an improved order intake and if anything, we are increasing production in the Swedish industrial operations right now.
Truck manufacturer AB Volvo reports an adjusted operating profit of 13.2 billion kronor for the first quarter of the year. This can be compared to 18.2 billion kronor a year earlier.
The average forecast among analysts was a profit fall to 14.7 billion kronor, according to a forecast compilation made by the news agency Bloomberg.
Revenue decreased by 7 percent to 121.8 billion kronor.
As a result, Volvo's management has written down the forecasts for the number of new registrations in North America by 25,000 trucks under 2025.
On the other hand, the total order intake increased by 13 percent to 55,227 trucks.
