And so to Iveco, which has – through parent Fiat Group – made its statement for 2006.

Not too shabby at first glance; revenues were up 7.7 per cent to €9.1 / $11.8 / £5.9 billion, and a trading profit of €546 / $708.74 / £359.57 million, up by 64 per cent on 2005, and suggesting a half decent margin of six per cent.

Sales are worth a look. In 2006, Iveco delivered a total of 181,500 vehicles (including 17,600 units with buy back commitments), up 5.2 per cent from 2005. Underlining the company’s still highly regionalized focus, Western Europe accounted for 135,100 unit sales, up overall by 3.2 per cent from 2005, but showing marked declines in both Italy and the UK.

Sales were good in Germany and Spain, whilst deliveries also increased in Eastern Europe, Africa and MENA. Latin America was fairly stable, but Iveco should be positioned nicely to take advantage of a predicted upswing in Brazil next year.

Thus far, it’s difficult to ascertain the sales split between Heavy and Medium / Light duty vehicles. We suspect that the latter is going great guns, whilst the former is looking a bit pale.

This is a key point. Iveco is – we believe – one of the potential dealmakers in the next round of consolidation – namely post MAN-Scania. A poor HCV showing could hasten a decision to reconsider its commitment to the heavy sector were a suitable – MAN-Navistar – merger partner to be found.