Volvo Group – the third quarter 2020

“In Q3, utilization of trucks and machines gradually improved as COVID-19 restrictions were eased. Towards the end of the quarter transport activity was back on roughly the same level as a year ago in most markets. This led to an improved sentiment among our customers, which is reflected in increased order intake for trucks, engines and construction equipment as well as a gradually improving service business. In the last two quarters, our organization and business partners have shown great volume flexibility by first handling a dramatic volume decline and then a steep recovery with good productivity maintained. However, the weak order intake in the previous quarter impacted the Group’s net sales in Q3, which amounted to SEK 76.9 billion – 16% lower than a year ago adjusted for currency. Our service business is more stable, with currency-adjusted revenues coming down by only 1% compared to Q3 last year and with a sequential improvement. Despite the sales decline we achieved an adjusted operating margin of 9.4% (11.0) thanks to significant cost reductions,” says Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO.