Volvo cut sticker prices on its trucks dramatically at the show. A truck costing DM230,500 ($130,000) has been reduced 37.4 percent to DM144,250. Reporter Georg Auer asked competing ex ecutives about the announcement.
Juergen Schrempp, chief executive officer, Daimler-Benz: 'Well, we have our sticker prices, but the customers simply don't pay them.'
Klaus Schubert, president, MAN Trucks: 'It is wrong to speak of a price war: What really matters are the costs during the life-cycle of a truck. We are not only competing with prices, but also with technological competence. Just one point: We have to be prepared to give 24-hour service.'
Karl-Erling Trogen, president of Volvo Trucks: 'There is no improvement in prices in Europe. We haven't yet any experience with price cuts, but we think that the sticker price should have some relation to the effective final price the customer pays.'
Leif Oestling, chief executive officer, Scania: 'It is no secret that the official listed price differs considerably from the actual transaction price. We have already been working for a long time with transaction prices.'
Kurt Lauk, vice president of Daimler-Benz responsible for commercial vehicles: 'We are seven European competitors on the truck market, all comparatively strong. And all are struck with collective madness.'
