"The downturn in western European demand has now levelled off," Swedish truckmaker Scania said as it returned to profit.

Swedish truckmaker Scania said on Monday it returned to profit in the third quarter with the outcome better-than-expected as cost cutting helped the bottomline, and there was a slight improvement in the outlook.

Scania said it had a three months to September net profit of 278 million kronor (27.3 million dollars), down 85 percent from a year earlier but well above analyst forecasts for 17 million kronor as compiled by Dow Jones Newswires.

According to previously published figures, Scania lost 150 million kronor in the three months to June when sales fell 40 percent from a year earlier to 14.43 billion kronor.

"The European truck market is characterised by low economic activity but in Scania’s judgement the downturn in western European demand has now levelled off," the company said in a statement.

"In Latin America, demand remains relatively good. In Asia, a certain recovery is under way," it added.

Third quarter deliveries fell 44 percent from a year earlier to 9,023 vehicles, it said.

Last Friday Volvo Group's company's chief executive Leif Johansson said that demand for trucks, spare parts and servicing "continued to stabilise" overall in Europe, where signs of recovery had appeared in recent months with major economies France and Germany emerging from recession. Russia and Spain remained weak, however, he said.

"We also see that demand for used trucks is steadily improving in Europe, which indicates that the market has bottomed out and that our customers' businesses are moving in the right direction," he said.