Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- MAN AG, Europe's third-largest truckmaker, may reduce its workforce and cut production as freight companies delay orders because of the financial crisis.

``We've definitely seen a weaker order intake in the last couple months,'' MAN Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``We see that our customers are very concerned'' about the economy.

The Munich-based manufacturer plans to cut temporary employees to trim output in an effort to make the changes ``undramatic'' for workers, Samuelsson said. MAN's backlog of orders should still allow the company to achieve its goal of delivering more than 100,000 trucks for the first time this year, he said. The company is 30 percent owned by Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker.

Sales of trucks and vans in Europe have started to slacken as freight companies struggle with high oil prices and slowing economies. European sales of commercial vehicles contracted 13 percent in August, the biggest drop in almost a year, according to the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. Robust growth in recent years allowed MAN and competitors to post record earnings.

``We have a high degree of flexibility that we will use if necessary'' to trim output, MAN spokesman Andreas Lampersbach said today via e-mail. ``There aren't any concrete numbers.''

MAN had more than 4,000 temporary workers at the end of June, according to its second-quarter report. It sold 93,260 trucks in 2007 and had about 55,000 employees at the end of that year.

Diesel, Turbo

Samuelsson said MAN's truck business will be affected by an anticipated 10 percent decline in the European truck market next year, even as demand for diesel engines and turbo machines may grow by a ``double-digit'' percentage.

MAN slipped 40 cents, or 1 percent, to 39.34 euros in German trading, paring its market value to 5.82 billion euros ($7.83 billion).

The tough financial market could help MAN make acquisitions to expand its Turbo Machines unit or set up commercial-vehicle joint ventures in China and India, the CEO said. The company had net debt of 672 million euros at the end of June and has a ``very strong'' financial position, he added.

``We will enter an era where money will be more expensive,'' Samuelsson said. ``Opportunities could be more favorable to us than in the past.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Reiter in Berlin at creiter2@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 10, 2008 12:00 EDT