R. Preston Feight
Chief Executive Officer at PACCAR
Hey, good morning. Harry Schippers, Michael Barkley and I will update you on our first quarter results and business highlights. PACCAR achieved excellent revenues and net income in the first quarter. PACCAR sales and Financial Services revenues increased 11% to $6,470 million. Net income increased 28% to $601 million. PACCAR Parts first quarter revenues increased by 20% to a record $1.39 billion. Parts pretax profits were a record 340 million, 35% higher than the same period last year. Truck, Parts and other gross margins expanded to 13.4% in the first quarter compared to 11.6% in the fourth quarter of last year. PACCAR Financial had a record quarter, increasing pretax income by 92% to $147 million due to healthy new business volume and strong used truck results.
I appreciate PACCAR's outstanding employees who deliver the excellent financial results and the highest quality trucks and transportation solutions in the industry. Last year, PACCAR introduced a complete new product lineup of Peterbilt, Kenworth and DAF; heavy and medium-duty trucks. This was a record number of new product introductions and these investments are generating excellent results for the company. Our customers are benefiting from the industry-leading fuel efficiency, while drivers love the new digital instrumentation, luxurious interiors, stylish LED headlights and beautiful exterior styling. The new trucks and growth in PACCAR's aftermarket business contributed to the increased gross margins this quarter. We expect gross margins to continue increasing this year as a new trucks become a higher percentage of the build.
Looking at the economy, US GDP is estimated to grow 3.2% and industrial production is projected to expand 4.4% this year, which continues to provide a favorable operating environment for PACCAR and its customers. We estimate the US and Canadian Class 8 market to be in the range of 260,000 to 290,00 trucks. The European and UK economies are also experiencing good economic growth. Economists project U.K GDP to increase 4%, and European GDP to increase by 3.2%. The 2022 European truck market is expected to be in a range of 270,000 to 300,000 trucks. We expect truck markets to remain strong. PACCAR's industry leading new truck lineup, highly efficient factories, best in class Parts and Financial Services business, and the continued development of advanced technologies are creating an exciting future.
Harrie Schippers will now provide an update on PACCAR Parts, PACCAR Financial Services and other business highlights.