U.S. drags down Volvo truck deliveries by 17 pct

World number two truck maker Volvo said on Thursday that deliveries of its trucks fell 17 percent in January through April as demand fell sharply in its second biggest market, North America.

Volvo delivered 60,536 trucks in the period, down from 72,661 a year earlier.

This would mean shipments in April alone fell 27.4 percent year-on-year to 14,045 trucks, according to Reuters' calculations.

Deliveries to North America slid 57 percent in the January to April period to 9,964 units.

After years of strong demand in its key markets Volvo and its peers are suffering a sharp fall in demand in the United States, a hangover from a buying spree which broke out ahead of tougher emission rules implemented at the turn of the year.

Deliveries to Europe in the first four months of the year edged up 1 percent to 39,101 units. Shipments to west Europe slipped 6 percent, but rose 44 percent to eastern Europe.

Volvo has not given a forecast for the North American heavy-duty truck market, but has said the market would fall sharply during the first half of the year, followed by a recovery during the second half.

The Volvo group includes the Renault and Mack brands, as well as vehicles sold under its own name, following its acquisition of France's Renault VI in 2001.