Ever since the supply chain disruptions have rippled across the globe, the head of the world’s largest truck maker, CEO Martin Daum of Daimler Truck has warned that due to the shortage of parts the production of thousands of vehicles is becoming slow.
The CEO further stated that he has never witnessed such a supply chain squeeze in his 25-year career. This has resulted in major bottlenecks across the company’s suite of brands.
The manufacturer of Mercedes-Benz trucks claimed in early June that there were indications that a protracted chip shortage might be coming to an end.
Modern auto manufacture depends heavily on microchips, or semiconductors, which were in short of supply during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But according to Daum, shortages of other parts are too involved in slowing the production of thousands of trucks across the country.
He noted that they have several factories wherein one or two parts are missing at least 10,000 trucks, which the company is desperately looking for across the world.
Daimler Truck’s production is under substantial pressure from inflation as a result of significantly increased energy and raw material prices, some of which are easier to pass on than others.
The truck manufacturer did, however, point out some positives, mentioning Freightliner, Western Star, and Fuso among its other brands.
According to Daum, since supply shortages are still being made up for through 2020 and 2021, there is a pent-up demand for almost 200,000 trucks in the United States alone.
Sales for the first quarter rose by 8% year-over-year at Daimler Truck in May, and group revenue increased by 17% over the same period.
Image Credit: DaimlerTruck.com