Here’s what you need to know:
- Traton Group reported a 7% decline in 2025 sales revenue and a 14% drop in global truck sales, primarily driven by a significant 35% revenue plunge at International Trucks.
- While the Americas struggled, European operations remained resilient; MAN saw a 30% surge in incoming orders, and global bus and van sales increased across the group despite the overall downturn in heavy-duty truck deliveries.
- To navigate geopolitical risks and trade policy impacts, Traton is centralizing R&D with 9,000 engineers and slowing its North American electrification ramp-up, forecasting a cautious recovery in 2026.
Traton Group, parent company of International Trucks, reported Wednesday a 7% year-over-year drop in sales revenue in 2025, attributed mostly to weakness in the North American and Brazilian marketplaces.
Globally the company reported sales revenues of €44.1 billion in 2025, down from €47.5 billion, and vehicle deliveries of 305,486 units, down from 334,215 in 2024. Traton truck sales across the globe were down 14% year over year, but its bus and vans sales rose. The company also saw a 7% increase in orders received, from 263,575 in 2024 to 281,325 in 2025.
“As a group, we tackled many challenges in 2025 while defending our market share,” says CEO Christian Levin. “The Traton Group responded to the demanding economic and political environment in 2025 with adaptations in our roadmap, such as a slower ramp-up of electrification in North America. Furthermore, we have put cost control in focus while continuing to invest in areas that are vital for the future of the Group. This ensures that we will continue to uphold our commitment in the future: ‘Transforming Transportation Together. For a sustainable world.’”
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European market strongest for Traton in 2025
As reported in January, Traton’s European brands were its strongest operations in 2025. MAN sales revenue was up slightly to €14.1 billion from €13.7 billion on the back of higher unit sales of new vehicles. MAN also recorded a very sharp increase of 30% in incoming orders to 100,000 vehicles, which the company sourced to a strong rise in demand for trucks in the EU27+3 region.
Its Scania sales revenue slipped only from €18.9 billion in 2024 to €17.9 billion in 2025, while Volkswagen fell from €2.9 billion to €2.8 billion. For Scania, Traton reports while truck unit sales only declined slightly in a weak market in Europe, they were down significantly in Brazil. The resulting impact on sales revenue could only be partially offset by the moderately growing Vehicle Services business. As for Volkswagen, the company reports unit sales actually rose to 46,200 vehicles from 45,800 vehicles despite the revenue dip.
What about International Trucks?
International recorded sales revenue of €8.2 billion in 2025, down 35% from €11.1 billion in 2024. Traton reports soft demand and declining unit volumes led to a strong decrease in new vehicle sales as well as a significant drop in vehicle service revenues. Adjusted operating return on sales was 0.1%, while International’s unit sales amounted to 63,700 vehicles — down from over 90,000 in 2024.
Due to the environment, Traton believes truck customers were extremely cautious. Weaker demand in Mexico also had a negative impact, following the prior year’s temporary boost from Euro 5 pre-buy effects. By contrast, International’s bus unit sales rose sharply. The North American market faced uncertainty regarding the impact of import tariffs and the ongoing weakness in the freight markets in 2025, leading to a decline in incoming orders to 46,200 vehicles from 56,600 the prior year.
Key victories for the Group
Levin states the establishment of the Traton Group R&D operation as a substantial victory for the business in 2025. He states the team of 9,000 engineers now “jointly develop products for customers of all our brands and are thus instrumental in enabling faster and more cost-effective product development.” He adds the unit is particularly crucial for the evolution of the Traton Modular System (TMS), a common vehicle architecture combined with standardized interfaces that will enable the truck maker to meet the needs of customers all over the world.
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The group also reached significant milestones on its journey to sustainable transportation in 2025, while also strengthening its position in China and moving closer to reducing its industrial net debt to zero by the end of the decade.
Expectations for 2026 and beyond
Traton reports it anticipates economic growth in 2026 on a par with the previous year. Across all brands and all vehicle classes, it expects unit sales in the Traton Group development will range between down 5% to up 7%, with Operations also coming within that range. The group states it plans to offset additional costs from tariffs as much as possible through mitigation and cost measures. However, these measures will only take effect successively over the course of the year.
As a result, Traton states the operating return on sales (adjusted) in the first quarter of 2026 is expected to be below the forecast range for the full year. An operating return on sales (adjusted) of between 5.3 and 7.3% is forecast for full-year 2026. The Traton Operations business area is expected to generate net cash flow between €0.9 billion and €1.7 billion. As in the 2025 reporting period, the company anticipates a positive net cash flow to materialize only in the second half of 2026.
“The forecast is based on the tariff situation prevailing at the end of 2025,” the company states. “Compared with the previous year, the 2026 forecast reflects significantly greater uncertainty, as seen in the chosen forecast ranges. The forecast is subject in particular to geopolitical risks and unexpected impacts of U.S. trade policy.”
