Volvo says gaining market share as orders rise-paper

World's number two truck maker Volvo's Volvo Trucks unit has won market share as industry order bookings revive from a plunge suffered due to the global downturn, a top executive told a newspaper on Monday.

"We have a cooperation in the business where we inform each other about order intake and our order figures show that we are winning market share," Volvo Trucks Chief Executive Staffan Jufors told Swedish business daily Dagens Industri.

Volvo, which sells trucks in separate units under its own name as well as brands such as Renault, Mack and UD Trucks, has seen demand recover in recent months from the steepest downturn in decades as the global financial crisis struck in late 2008.

"We have increased production substantially since the autumn and are now prepared for a further increase in production by 30 percent. We expect to take shares in the market," Jufors was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The Volvo group slashed thousands of jobs to scale back costs in the face of the downturn, helping the Gothenburg-based manufacturer swing to a profit in the first quarter after a dismal 2009.

"Our profitability is better than before the economic crisis and the break-even level is considerably lower," Jufors said.