MUNICH, (Reuters) – A recovery in Chinese and German truck markets will not come quickly, Martin Daum, the outgoing CEO of the world’s biggest truck maker Daimler Truck told a press event late on Tuesday.
He said he did not expect a recovery in the Chinese truck market this year or next, adding that China was in a deep crisis, according to remarks published on Wednesday.
In Germany, Europe’s largest truck market, Daum still saw “no light at the end of the tunnel”.
Daimler Truck wants to double its electric truck and bus sales this year to 6,000 vehicles, said Daum, who was replaced by former Scania manager Karin Radstrom as of Tuesday, the first woman at the helm of the German group.
Daum also said that a pure focus on sales returns was wrong and that absolute profit was more important for him.
Daimler Truck’s supervisory board Chairman Joe Kaeser has called on the company to catch up with the margins of 14-15% at competitors Paccar and Volvo – something that Daum called a “thought experiment”.
Daimler’s adjusted operating return on sales was 9.9% last year, and the company expects to raise it to 12% by 2030.
Reporting by Alexander Huebner; Writing by Andrey Sychev; Editing by Rachel More and Mark Potter
