Daimler’s Truck Group Unit’s Operating Income Gains

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aimlerChrysler’s newly created Truck Group division posted a first-quarter operating profit of 426 million euros, down from 698 million euros a year ago, though the prior quarter included 276 million euros in settlement income.

First-quarter Truck Group revenue rose 10% to 7.4 billion euros, the company said in a statement Thursday.

At current exchange rates, one euro is equal to about $1.25.

DaimlerChrysler, parent of market-leading U.S. truck maker Freightliner LLC, in late January renamed its commercial vehicles division the Truck Group. (Click here for previous coverage.)

The company sold 119,300 trucks worldwide — “close to the figure” for the previous first-quarter, the Stuttgart, Germany, firm said in a statement.

North American truck sales rose 5% to 50,700 units, while Europe/Latin America sales decreased by 7% to 30,000 vehicles from a year earlier.

Total operating profit at DaimlerChrysler rose 42% to 891 million euros in the quarter, from 628 million euros a year ago.