Volvo’s fourth-quarter profits boost 2011 forecast

Volvo AB reported a fourth-quarter profit that boosted its 2011 truck-delivery forecast by 10 percent.

Their fourth-quarter net income was about $500 million, compared with a loss of $308 million a year earlier. Volvo’s revenue rose 23 percent to $11.3 billion, and they delivered almost 57,000 trucks in the quarter – 49 percent more than the fourth quarter of 2009.

The company’s North American orders more than doubled compared with a year ago, and they were up 11 percent from the third quarter, Volvo says. Worldwide truck orders jumped 63 percent for the quarter from a year ago and 22 percent from the third quarter.

The company is considering assembling Volvo-branded trucks in China through its existing joint venture with Dongfeng Motor Group.