Sales of Daimler Trucks decreased to 446,800 units and lost 4 percent between January and November 2019 compared to the same period of the previous year, the truck manufacturer announced on Friday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
Important markets such as Europe and North America had weakened "faster than expected" in the second half of the year, said Martin Daum, chairman of the board of management of Daimler Trucks.
Daimler Trucks, a subsidiary of German carmaker Daimler, had been prepared for the decline in sales last summer and immediately adjusted production. "However, we are not at all satisfied with our return on sales in 2019," said Daum.
In order to increase the company's profit margin to at least 7 percent by 2022, Daum announced that the German truck manufacturer had initiated "extensive structural measures".
For 2020, Daum is seeking to "significantly improve" the cost structure despite ongoing investments required for new technologies such as a carbon-neutral fleet with electric drive systems and in the automation and connectivity of trucks and buses.
With no short-term turnaround in sight, Daimler Trucks is expecting further "significant decreases" in its core markets in 2020. According to Daimler, the "particularly high demand" of recent years would further normalize.