Scania appoints new CEO

Swedish heavy-truck maker Scania has appointed Martin Lundstedt as new president and chief executive officer to replace Leif Oestling on September 1, the company said Saturday. Oestling, 66, will be leaving the company he has headed since 1994 to become a member of the board of management of German carmaker Volkswagen, Scania's biggest shareholder, the Swedish group said. Lundstedt, born in 1967, is currently an executive vice president at Scania and head of its franchise and factory sales. He said he had no immediate plans for any changes to Scania. "We have a good long-term strategy that we're going to continue," he told Swedish news agency TT. Lundstedt joined Scania in 1992 and has held various senior positions, including head of its industrial operations in France from 2001 to 2005. He was also senior vice president of the trucks division until 2007. In the first quarter of the year, Scania reported a 28-percent fall in net profit to 1.8 billion kronor (203 million euros, $268 million), owing to weaker demand and high development costs.