Stockholm - Swedish heavy-vehicle maker Volvo on Tuesday said it would introduce stop days in production after November truck deliveries slumped 21 per cent year-on-year.

Gothenburg-based Volvo said it delivered 19,326 trucks during the month.

In order to prevent a build-up of inventory, the group planned some 20 to 25 stop days in production in the first quarter of 2009.

The group said "customers continue to be very cautious and are in most cases waiting with their investment decisions" and in Europe the weak trend from the third quarter continued.

Since clients cancelled more orders than placed orders in Europe, the result was a negative net order intake of 1,800 trucks, Volvo Trucks said.

In Europe deliveries dropped 42 per cent, of which Western Europe accounted for 36 per cent while the drop was 65 per cent in Eastern Europe.

Demand remained weak in North America and other markets, Volvo said.

The Volvo group does not include the Ford-owned car division.

Volvo has recently announced several job cuts. (dpa)