MAN Truck & Bus suffered from a drop in demand for heavy trucks during the first half of 2012. This decrease was particularly noticeable in Central and South Europe (due to uncertainty about the debt crisis), and also in Brazil. In this country, it was the introduction of the Euro 5 norm which damaged the market, along with more difficult access to credit. However, in both cases MAN believes it has resisted better than the market as a whole. MAN Truck & Bus operating profits plunged from 475 to 211 million Euros. MAN estimates that the European market will contract by 5 to 10% this year.