During the first three months of 2021, Volvo CE saw net sales increase by 23 percent worldwide and 16 percent in North America over Q1 2020.
The company says expectations for further government infrastructure investments are creating a positive sentiment among customers in North America.
“It is heartening to see demand increasing in the first quarter of this year, with sales up across all regions and markets," said Volvo CE president Melker Jernberg. "We can take confidence that we have weathered a tough period for our customers, our employees, and the wider industry and are beginning to now see higher activity. In many countries, we have seen increased investment in an aging infrastructure, something which we expect to continue for the future.
"Together with a high level of construction activity in several other sectors, this is driving demand for both new machines and services, reflected in both deliveries and order intake rising sharply for the first quarter,” Jernberg said.
Overall demand rose sharply in Q1, with order intake also rising by 73 percent. Demand for large- and medium-sized machines was stronger than for compact machines, according to the company.
During Q1 of 2021, Volvo CE net sales increased by 23 percent to SEK 24,742 M (SEK 20,148 M in Q1 2020)–slightly higher than the same period in 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
At SEK 3,822 M, operating income also rose, up from SEK 2,678 M in the same period of 2020. Earnings were positively impacted by higher machine volumes and capacity utilization in the industrial system, cost reductions, and increased service earnings, which were partly offset by negative mix effects. This was reflected in the operating margin, which at 15.4 percent, was up from 13.3 percent in the same period the year before.
Source: Volvo CE
