European Heavy-Duty Truck Sales Booming
Fleets Benefit From Clean-Engine Incentive
By Frederick Kiel, Staff Reporter
This story appears in the Sept. 24 print edition of Transport Topics.
Sharply contrasting with the precipitous drop in the U.S. Class 8 truck market, sales of heavy-duty trucks are booming in Europe as many fleets buy new models early to reap government incentives to adopt new emission technology before it becomes mandated, manufacturers said.
Moreover, Europe’s economy is strong, pushing demand for hauling capacity.
The strength in Europe is helping to offset sagging U.S. sales for truck manufacturers that sell on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We have a very booming market in trucks all over Europe this year,” Kathrin Wittmann, spokeswoman for DaimlerChrysler Truck Group in Germany told Transport Topics. “The whole European truck market is definitely going to have a record year in sales in 2007.”
Wittmann and officials of other European manufacturers said that various government incentives played a major factor in fleets “buying ahead” new technology.
“Many of our customers are already ordering trucks to meet Euro 5 standards that don’t take effect until October 2009,” Wittmann said.
“The willingness of European fleets to buy new technology ahead of government mandates certainly smoothes out the market, especially compared with North America,” Robin Easton, until recently treasurer of Paccar Inc., told TT. Paccar owns DAF Truck N.V. in Europe and makes Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks in the United States.
An example of government incentives is lower highway tolls.
“The fleet or truck owner with a 2009 vehicle gets a 20% reduction in tolls in Germany, which can mean savings of several thousand euros each year in tolls, depending upon distances driven, until the standard is put into place,” said Claws Tohsche, a spokesman for DaimlerChrysler, which makes Mercedes-Benz trucks in Europe and Freightliners in the United States.
Tohsche told TT 2009-compliant trucks cost 6,000 to 8,000 euros, or about $8,100 and $10,800 — more than old models, but the higher price is worth it.
“Other European countries have planned or put into place a wide range of financial incentives for particularly environment-friendly commercial vehicles,” Tohsche said.
Volvo AB global spokesman Mår-ten Wikforss told TT Sept. 18 that Volvo Group expects strong European sales in 2007.
“From January through July, the Volvo Group delivered 71,300 heavy-duty trucks in Europe, versus 68,663 in the same period of 2006, for a nearly 4% increase,” Wikforss told TT.
“We have seen no effect on truck sales anywhere in Europe because of the global financial instability,” Wikforss said.
DaimlerChrysler agreed, telling TT Sept. 19, “DaimlerChrysler officials confirmed their positive market forecast for EU29,” or 29 member countries in the European Union.
DaimlerChrysler’s Wittmann at-tributed robust sales to “two sectors that are growing with amazing strength, the European transportation business and construction, which is very, very strong.”
Wittmann said the company did not break down orders between medium- and heavy-duty trucks but that “because of surging orders, we believe we will produce more than 100,000 medium- and heavy-duty Mercedes-Benz trucks in our German plant in Woerth in a single year for the first time in 2007.”
Sales are also helped by Europe’s adoption of selective catalytic reduction to cut emission, Tohsche said. SCR uses an injection of urea to help cut exhaust emission, reducing the use of other efficiency-robbing engine controls.
“The Mercedes-Benz Bluetec heavy-duty truck for 2009 gets 5% better diesel mileage than older technology trucks and has many other fuel and safety innovations, so that fleets that ‘buy ahead’ are actually making money,” Tohsche said. “Also, the 2009 trucks will have much higher resale value.”
“Unlike North America, where you have fleets rushing to buy the dirty engines of older technology, European fleets are buying ahead, many ordering trucks this year that will meet cleaner standards of the future,” Volvo’s Wikforss told TT.
Truck producers said that a strong economy across the continent was boosting truck sales.
“The year has just gone from strength to strength in our order book, so that some models have already completely sold out for the year,” Paccar’s Easton said. “The reason is that the overall European economy is firing on all cylinders. Even Germany, the largest economy in the EU, is finally over the long hangover from its reunification and is growing strongly again.”
This story appears in the Sept. 24 print edition of Transport Topics.
Sharply contrasting with the precipitous drop in the U.S. Class 8 truck market, sales of heavy-duty trucks are booming in Europe as many fleets buy new models early to reap government incentives to adopt new emission technology before it becomes mandated, manufacturers said.
Moreover, Europe’s economy is strong, pushing demand for hauling capacity.
The strength in Europe is helping to offset sagging U.S. sales for truck manufacturers that sell on both sides of the Atlantic.
“We have a very booming market in trucks all over Europe this year,” Kathrin Wittmann, spokeswoman for DaimlerChrysler Truck Group in Germany told Transport Topics. “The whole European truck market is definitely going to have a record year in sales in 2007.”
Wittmann and officials of other European manufacturers said that various government incentives played a major factor in fleets “buying ahead” new technology.
“Many of our customers are already ordering trucks to meet Euro 5 standards that don’t take effect until October 2009,” Wittmann said.
“The willingness of European fleets to buy new technology ahead of government mandates certainly smoothes out the market, especially compared with North America,” Robin Easton, until recently treasurer of Paccar Inc., told TT. Paccar owns DAF Truck N.V. in Europe and makes Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks in the United States.
An example of government incentives is lower highway tolls.
“The fleet or truck owner with a 2009 vehicle gets a 20% reduction in tolls in Germany, which can mean savings of several thousand euros each year in tolls, depending upon distances driven, until the standard is put into place,” said Claws Tohsche, a spokesman for DaimlerChrysler, which makes Mercedes-Benz trucks in Europe and Freightliners in the United States.
Tohsche told TT 2009-compliant trucks cost 6,000 to 8,000 euros, or about $8,100 and $10,800 — more than old models, but the higher price is worth it.
“Other European countries have planned or put into place a wide range of financial incentives for particularly environment-friendly commercial vehicles,” Tohsche said.
Volvo AB global spokesman Mår-ten Wikforss told TT Sept. 18 that Volvo Group expects strong European sales in 2007.
“From January through July, the Volvo Group delivered 71,300 heavy-duty trucks in Europe, versus 68,663 in the same period of 2006, for a nearly 4% increase,” Wikforss told TT.
“We have seen no effect on truck sales anywhere in Europe because of the global financial instability,” Wikforss said.
DaimlerChrysler agreed, telling TT Sept. 19, “DaimlerChrysler officials confirmed their positive market forecast for EU29,” or 29 member countries in the European Union.
DaimlerChrysler’s Wittmann at-tributed robust sales to “two sectors that are growing with amazing strength, the European transportation business and construction, which is very, very strong.”
Wittmann said the company did not break down orders between medium- and heavy-duty trucks but that “because of surging orders, we believe we will produce more than 100,000 medium- and heavy-duty Mercedes-Benz trucks in our German plant in Woerth in a single year for the first time in 2007.”
Sales are also helped by Europe’s adoption of selective catalytic reduction to cut emission, Tohsche said. SCR uses an injection of urea to help cut exhaust emission, reducing the use of other efficiency-robbing engine controls.
“The Mercedes-Benz Bluetec heavy-duty truck for 2009 gets 5% better diesel mileage than older technology trucks and has many other fuel and safety innovations, so that fleets that ‘buy ahead’ are actually making money,” Tohsche said. “Also, the 2009 trucks will have much higher resale value.”
“Unlike North America, where you have fleets rushing to buy the dirty engines of older technology, European fleets are buying ahead, many ordering trucks this year that will meet cleaner standards of the future,” Volvo’s Wikforss told TT.
Truck producers said that a strong economy across the continent was boosting truck sales.
“The year has just gone from strength to strength in our order book, so that some models have already completely sold out for the year,” Paccar’s Easton said. “The reason is that the overall European economy is firing on all cylinders. Even Germany, the largest economy in the EU, is finally over the long hangover from its reunification and is growing strongly again.”
