Truck maker DAF booked an increase in both net profit and turnover in 2008, despite the decline in demand for lorries, reports the NRC on Tuesday.

The paper says DAF booked full year 2008 sales of €4.85bn, a 5% increase on 2007. Net profit was up 10% at €502m.
The increase is due to the first three quarters of the year, the paper says.
DAF CEO Aad Goudriaan told the paper that the company had been able to respond quickly to changing market conditions. ‘We have put our operational costs in line with the level of our order book. Our starting position was very strong,’ he said.
In October DAF reacted to the sharp drop in demand for trucks by cancelling the contracts of 1,500 temporary workers. Since January, 3,000 staffers have been on short-term working.
DAF currently makes 100 trucks a day, compared with 245 in its heyday. ‘There is still a market for our trucks. You have to work harder for them but they are still being sold,’ Goudriaan told the paper.