Recently, international commercial vehicle companies such as MAN Commercial Vehicle, Daimler Trucks, and Scania have successively released their 2023 financial reports. Judging from the published data, these companies have shown strong development momentum, not only achieving the best results in history, but also making significant progress in enterprise transformation.
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Multinational commercial vehicle companies performed well last year
In 2023, Daimler Truck Holding AG (Daimler Trucks) achieved record highs in terms of group revenue, EBIT, adjusted return on sales and free cash flow from its real businesses.
Despite supply chain bottlenecks, Daimler trucks achieved a 1% increase in global sales to a total of 526,000 units. In addition, Daimler Trucks has also made significant progress in zero-emission technology, delivering 3,443 zero-emission trucks and buses in 2023, an increase of 277% compared to the same period last year. Thanks to the adjustment of the net pricing strategy and the positive contribution of volumes and product mix, Daimler Trucks achieved a 10 percent increase in Group revenue in 2023, setting a new record of 55.9 billion euros.
MAN Commercial Vehicles also achieved good results in 2023, with significant growth in sales, sales, adjusted operating income and operating margin. Among them, the company's sales revenue reached 14.8 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 31%; New vehicle sales exceeded 116,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 37%. MAN Commercial Vehicles continued to perform well despite rising raw material and energy prices, with adjusted operating income of 1.08 billion euros, the best performance in the company's history, and an adjusted operating margin of 7.3 percent, an increase of 6 percentage points over the previous fiscal year.
In 2023, Scania's cumulative global sales will reach 204.1 billion Swedish kronor (about 143.3 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 28%; Operating profit reached SEK 26 billion (about RMB 18.26 billion), and new car sales reached 96,727 units, a year-on-year increase of 113%, of which 246 were zero-emission models.
2023 has been a record year for Scania. This year, Scania's net sales exceeded SEK 200 billion, doubling in seven years. In addition, Scania has successfully ensured the stability of order delivery in 2023, with a 13% increase in deliveries compared to last year.
In addition, Volvo Trucks is also showing good recovery momentum. According to the 2023 financial report, Volvo Trucks' annual net sales reached 552.8 billion Swedish kronor (about 368 billion yuan), adjusted operating income was 77.638 billion Swedish kronor (about 51.6 billion yuan), and the adjusted operating profit margin was 14%, and the global new car delivery reached 145395, of which 1,977 electric trucks were delivered, an increase of 256% over the previous year. It is worth mentioning that Volvo's electric heavy truck market share in Europe has increased to 47.2%.
With the steady recovery of the global economy, the commercial vehicle industry has returned to normal operation, which has become the core driver of the general increase in the performance of multinational commercial vehicle giants. In addition, it is worth noting that compared with domestic commercial vehicle companies, multinational commercial vehicle companies have also shown obvious advantages in profitability. In this regard, He Mochi, President of Scania China, pointed out: "In terms of profit margins, multinational commercial vehicle brands do have better profitability. He further emphasized that the focus of competition in the heavy truck market in the future will no longer be the competition for market share, but how to achieve higher profitability in a stable market environment. The key to survival is how to deal with price pressures, which require companies to accelerate the pace of transformation and create greater value by optimizing operations, reducing costs, and improving efficiency. In this regard, multinational commercial vehicle companies such as MAN and Scania have taken the lead and achieved considerable profitability by providing comprehensive logistics solutions.
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Embracing electrification and the transformation is paying off
In addition to the positive impact of the market recovery, another key factor for multinational commercial vehicle companies to achieve performance growth in 2023 is to actively embrace the trend of electrification and carry out targeted business adjustments to accelerate the pace of transformation and upgrading.
In 2023, Daimler Trucks made important progress in its electrification transition. From the launch of a number of electric models and related services, to the joint venture with Cummins and PACCAR to produce Accelera batteries, to the establishment of a public charging and hydrogen fuel network in North America, Greenlane, Daimler Trucks is committed to electrification.
In addition, Daimler Trucks has made a major breakthrough in the field of zero-emission vehicles, and its global zero-emission vehicle portfolio has expanded to more than 10 models. In North America, Daimler Trucks launched the Freightliner eM2 electric medium-duty truck; In Europe, the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 electric long-haul truck made its world premiere. Fuso, a subsidiary in Asia, has delivered the next-generation eCanter to high-profile customers, including Yamato, and launched the RIZON, an all-electric medium-duty truck, in the United States.
In 2023, MAN Commercial Vehicle will continue to accelerate its electrification layout and increase its R&D investment in electric technology, making MAN Commercial Vehicle a leader in pure electric city buses in Europe. The first electric trucks with a range of 800 kilometres will be delivered this year. In 2025, MAN Commercial Vehicle also plans to further increase the driving range of electric buses and put into service the first electric test buses.
Scania has also achieved a lot in 2023 when it comes to driving the electrification transition. In early 2023, Scania will invest in and expand its electric product portfolio to further decarbonize its supply chain. In April 2023, Scania partnered with Northvolt to launch a power battery tailored for electric heavy trucks. In September 2023, the Scania battery assembly plant in Severtälije, Sweden, was officially put into operation. The battery assembly plant was set up by Scania in partnership with Northvolt. The completion of the new plant has injected strong impetus into the promotion and application of Scania's electric trucks.
In the face of the challenge of global climate change, Volvo Trucks is also actively promoting green transformation and accelerating the research and development and application of electrification technology. To date, Volvo Electric Trucks has successfully received about 6,000 orders from 42 countries on six continents, providing environmentally friendly and efficient transportation solutions to customers in nearly 190 markets. Volvo Trucks is also working closely with charging station providers and industry partners to build a comprehensive and convenient charging network for electric trucks, ensuring that vehicles can be charged easily and efficiently.
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We will continue to promote the transition to electrification
It is not difficult to see from the financial reports released by major multinational commercial vehicle companies that the continuous promotion of electrification transformation has become an inevitable trend in the development of enterprises.
In this regard, Daimler Trucks has made it clear that it will actively demonstrate the efficiency and reliability of its electric trucks in practical applications in the future, and promised to always "walk the talk" on the road to sustainability and decarbonization. At the same time, Daimler Trucks also announced that it plans to achieve carbon neutrality for all new products and services supplied directly from Europe, the United States and Japan by 2039.
MAN Commercial Vehicle also stated that it will accelerate the pace of electrification transformation and comprehensively lay out the construction of production facilities closely related to electrification. At present, the Munich plant is intensively being renovated to accommodate the mass production of electric trucks. At the same time, the construction of the battery plant in Nuremberg is also in the final stages and is expected to be topped out this year. In order to meet the growing demand for electric trucks, MAN Commercial Vehicles is further expanding its global logistics center in Salzgitter and is steadily building a product development center in Ankara. In addition, the production of electric city buses at the Starahovice plant in Poland continues to grow, bringing more environmentally friendly and sustainable mobility solutions to urban mobility.
In 2024, Scania will focus its efforts on promoting renewable fuels and scaling up electrification solutions to continue to meet its emissions reduction targets. Scania believes that electrification is the ultimate goal, and will make every effort to increase the production of pure electric trucks to meet customer demand. At the same time, Scania is revamping its South Telyeer plant with the aim of turning it into a production base for electric trucks. To support this transition, the supporting battery plant will start operations in September this year. By 2030, half of the trucks produced at the South Telje plant will be electric.
Multinational commercial vehicle companies have accelerated the transition to electrification, reflecting the company's high priority on environmental protection and sustainable development. With the vigorous development of the new energy vehicle market, traditional commercial vehicle companies will continue to accelerate the pace of transformation to adapt to market changes and meet consumer needs.
"Against the backdrop of a strong recovery in the global commercial vehicle industry, commercial vehicle giants such as Daimler Trucks, MAN Commercial Vehicles, and Scania have actively responded to market changes and achieved significant performance improvement through technological innovation, product upgrades, and embracing new energy. The successful experience of these enterprises not only sets an example for the entire industry, but also provides valuable experience and reference for domestic commercial vehicle enterprises. Zhong Weiping, secretary-general of the Commercial Vehicle Professional Committee of the China Automobile Dealers Association, said that with the continuous progress of technology and the continuous expansion of the market, commercial vehicle companies will face more opportunities and challenges. In this era of change, companies need to maintain keen market insight and flexible adaptability, constantly adjust strategies and tactics, and have the courage to innovate and forge ahead to ensure that they remain invincible in the fierce competition.
Text: Wang Jinyu Editor: Sun Weichuan Layout: Wang Kun
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