The leaders of Daimler Truck Holding AG expect their record backlog and ongoing efficiency gains to improve the company’s performance well into 2023, with very strong demand for the company’s Freightliner and Western Star commercial vehicle brands in North America prominently pitching in.
Daimler Truck North America's business in 2021 posted sales of about $17.5 billion versus $15.4 billion the year before. Adjusted EBITDA was about $1.6 billion, up about 40% from the year before thanks both to rising sales—a little more than 162,000 units versus nearly 140,000 in 2020—and higher prices. Globally, Daimler Truck earned adjusted EBITDA of about $2.8 billion on revenues of more than $44 billion.
For 2022, the Daimler team is forecasting North American unit sales of 175,000 to 195,000 and an adjusted return on equity of 10% to 12%. The company—which spun out of Daimler AG late last year—is pushing through a large price increase and may need to return to customers this year with another one if input costs continue to climb, Board Chairman Martin Daum said on a conference call with analysts. CFO Jochen Goetz added that only a minimal number of customers have adjusted their orders in response to price hikes, which he said is a sign of the very strong underlying demand for trucks.
Despite their optimism about demand and finishing 2021 with a record order backlog, Daum and his team say they, like their peers and many other manufacturers, are still struggling with parts of their supply chain, particularly the availability of semiconductors. For instance, DTNA operations last fall had 10,000 nearly-finished trucks sitting in yards waiting for key parts. In some cases, he added, the company has been flying components to its plants by helicopter.
“There are so many unexpected moves. That means suppliers who promise you a certain percentage of supply … suddenly cut that number by half—but overnight,” Daum said. “That is, in my opinion, a nearly unbearable situation that has a huge impact in the downstream business.”
Daum said Daimler’s leaders don’t expect Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to have a meaningful impact on the general economic situation in Europe or the United States but also noted that their forecasts assume there won’t be a recession as a result in either region of the war. He added that Daimler is at this point seeing no signs of such a broader economic downturn.
The Frankfurt-listed shares of Daimler Truck (Ticker: DTG) rose 7% March 24 to $25.71. Year to date, however, they are still down about 20%.