MAN also saw a significant 44 percent increase in truck sales as well
Commercial vehicle manufacturer MAN Truck & Bus achieved significant sales growth in all product areas in the financial year 2023. In total, the company delivered around 116,000 vehicles to its customers, an increase of 37 percent compared to the previous year, which was still affected by supply bottlenecks and a coronavirus-related decline in demand in the bus segment.
In addition, 11 600 engines were sold. Truck sales developed particularly positively, growing by 44 percent year-on-year to around 83 700 units. Bus sales also rose, increasing by 19 percent to around 5,700 units. These are all very healthy numbers for the brand and a good signal for commercial vehicles in Malaysia as well.
Moreover, all segments recorded strong growth, with the market for coaches in particular, which had slumped due to the coronavirus pandemic, recovering significantly. Sales of coaches more than doubled to over 1,100 vehicles. Amid the chip shortages brought on by the pandemic, this is good to see.
As MAN was able to win important tenders in the city bus business and the trend towards battery electric vehicles continues unabated, sales of eBuses increased further. While 263 electric city buses were sold in 2022, this figure had already risen to 771 vehicles by 2023. These are fantastic numbers.
On top of that, together with the market launch of the eTruck in October, MAN is thus continuing to systematically pursue its strategy of decarbonising its vehicle fleet. By 2030, half of all new MAN trucks and around 90 percent of all new city buses are to have a battery electric drive. This is truly sustainable and far better than privately owned electric vehicles (EVs) could ever hope to be.
Work is also already underway on the electric coach of the future. The van business also increased significantly. MAN Truck & Bus even exceeded the pre pandemic figures and delivered more vans than ever before. Around 26 600 vans were handed over to customers, which corresponds to an increase of 23 percent.
The external engine business can also look back on the second most successful year in its history after 2014. Around 11,600 engines were sold, more than half of them to customers in the agricultural sector for use in tractors or combine harvesters, for example.
This will surely go a long way in helping the environment and also the electric and commercial vehicle markets in Malaysia in the long run so we are glad to see MAN taking this initiative.
