Paccar’s 4Q Profit Jumps on Higher Truck Sales

Truck and engine maker Paccar Inc. said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit almost doubled from a year ago on higher truck sales.

Net income rose to $327.7 million, or 91 cents per share, from $169.8 million, or 46 cents, a year ago. Revenue jumped 58% to $4.85 billion.

For the full year, Paccar earned $1.04 billion, or $2.86 per share, more than double the $457.6 million, or $1.25, it earned in 2010.

Full-year revenue rose to $16.36 billion, the second-highest in its history, from $10.29 billion in 2010.

Class 8 industry retail sales in the U.S. and Canada improved to 197,000 units in 2011, up 56$ from 126,000 in 2010, aid Dan Sobic, Paccar’s executive vice president.

Sales this year are expected to rise to 210,000 to 240,000 vehicles, driven primarily by ongoing replacement of the aging truck population, he said in a statement, adding that annual replacement demand for the U.S. and Canadian truck market is about 225,000 units.

Paccar is the parent company of Kenworth Truck Co., Peterbilt Motors Co. and Europe-based DAF trucks.