Disparate trends in the European truck market

• The European market for heavy commercial vehicles declined slightly in Jan-July compared to 2023 (-3.4%).
• Scania (+10.8%) and Iveco (+14.7%) have gained many new customers and taken market share from their competitors.
• Diesel engines still dominate, but the electrification of heavy commercial vehicles has outgrown the test phase. Registrations of electric semitrailer trucks are rising rapidly.

Total market trends

Compared to the record figures from 2023, the European market for heavy commercial vehicles declined slightly by 3.4 per cent in the first seven months of the year. The Lithuanian commercial vehicle market is particularly noticeable here, having plummeted from 12,652 new registrations in the same period of 2023 to just 3,483 vehicles.

Overall, however, road transport remains of paramount importance for the economy, accounting for 70 per cent of all freight transport. This is also shown by the multi-year comparison, where the market is above the pre-corona years of 2018 and 2019 despite a weaker economy.

 Lots of movement within the manufacturers

Mercedes-Benz Trucks remains the market leader for heavy commercial vehicles, albeit with a volume drop of 8.0 per cent compared to the previous year. By contrast, Scania (+10.8 per cent) and Iveco (+14.7 per cent) made significant gains.

In the first seven months of 2024, Scania took over the market leadership for semi-trailers from Mercedes-Benz Trucks. The Swedes were the only manufacturer to grow in this segment, while many competitors suffered double-digit losses.

At model level, most freight carriers opt for the Volvo Trucks FH, followed by the Mercedes Actros and the MAN TGX.

The electrification of the commercial vehicle market has already kicked off

Over 92 per cent of new commercial vehicles still run on diesel, a further 3 per cent run on gas and the proportion of electric vehicles remains modest at 2.8 per cent.  In addition, 56 per cent of the E-HCVs are buses.

And yet the electrification of the commercial vehicle market has long since begun. Unlike the fuel cell (27 lorry registrations), the battery has already made the leap from the test phase to practical operation. Between January and July, 2,575 battery-electric trucks were registered, 777 of which were semitrailer trucks. 14 different electric semi model types are already available. Volvo Trucks is the clear market leader. The FH, FM and FMX series account for 67 per cent of registrations, but Renault Trucks, Iveco and Mercedes-Benz Trucks are also already on the road with unit numbers.

Data on the commercial vehicle market

Dataforce compiles monthly registration data for light and heavy commercial vehicles for a total of 33 countries. The data can be analysed by make and model, weight class, vehicle type and technical characteristics such as fuel type, engine power and axle configuration.