The Global Medium and Heavy Truck market has been in Top Gear as of late with steady demand growth trend across most key markets, led by North America & Europe, with good capacity utilization and profitability driving momentum for fleet renewal & expansion activities. The European medium & heavy truck market has been on a roll over the recent years with the EU economy revving up providing traction to freight movement & capacity utilization across operators while driving up service & maintenance activity & revenues for the OEMs.
Europe has been the traditional flag-bearer for technological evolution of the trucking industry globally given the critical role it plays in the European economy with over 75% of the freight within the continent moving by road and this trend is likely to be sustained over long term. The continent is also a trucking powerhouse and is home to three of the world's largest trucking OEMs, namely, Daimler, Volvo and the VW group which have traditionally dominated the global truck market with their size and scale of operations along with technological edge. The Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicle (MHCV) registration levels in the EU remained sustained in 2017 and almost flat as compared with 2016 with projections indicating towards the same trend likely to be maintained in 2018 with new registrations pegged at just above the 300,000 units level.
The industry OEMs are busy ramping up production rates to meet robust demand levels across most markets while fine tuning their supply chains to operate efficiently in top gear. The OEMs are also renewing their product portfolios in alignment with the market upturn through new product introductions incorporating cutting edge technologies and features focused on offering enhanced performance as well as productivity while optimizing the total cost of ownership. The focus on services business growth and portfolio expansion has also been increasing across OEMs as soaring fleet utilization levels spur demand for maintenance, repair and overhaul activities.
The trucking industry continues to be at the forefront of a technology led transformation phase marked by confounding uncertainties and disruptions which are likely to be sustained over medium term. The focus on CASE (Connected, Autonomous, Shared & Services and Electric) technologies continues to be at the core of this trend with OEMs continuing to integrate an array of sensors, equipment & technologies on-board truck models with digitalization forming the backbone of this technology led trucking revolution. The battle for electric trucks is getting fierce with the world's top 2 largest truck manufacturers, namely, Daimler & Volvo lining up electric versions of their flagship truck models to take on recent industry incumbents & start-ups head on with the duo planning start of commercial, full scale production of electric trucks from 2021. Daimler outlined the electric version of its Actros heavy truck (eActros) for Europe and eCascadia, the market leader in the U.S. Class 8 market. Volvo has rapidly unveiled its contenders for the electric medium duty truck segment, with the new electric FL and FE models for Europe. The VW Group, represented by MAN & Scania in Europe, too, has been structuring & shaping its trucking business steadily as evinced by the introduction of its manufacturer agnostic RIO digital brand, aimed at the transport & logistics sectors and plans for capital markets listing over near term. The industry supply chain, too, has been gearing up rapidly for the electric bandwagon with suppliers outlining & fine tuning their business strategies for EVs and setting up new units to execute them. Electrification, in commercial vehicles, thus, is reaching the inflexion point now.
The current phase of trucking industry's development and its likely evolution over medium term is going to be defined and shaped by technology which has been rapidly evolving and is poised to disrupt markets at a lightning pace. The industry OEMs & players; which are able to adopt & incorporate right technologies for right applications to deliver overall value to customers, end users & stakeholders while creating significant competitive advantages for themselves by leveraging this technology led differentiation; will be at the forefront of this one of the most disruptive phases for the industry going forward which is likely to be marked by the introduction of a number of technology enabled entirely new business models and concepts.
The rising crude oil prices, which have crossed the $70 per barrel mark as of-late, translate clearly into an increase in operating costs and direct impact on profitability for fleet operators, which, however, are also likely to provide further impetus to the electrification trend. The pressure on oil prices is likely to remain over near term with exports from Iran likely to dip post the nuclear deal fallout with the Trump led U.S. despite the recent supply side easing signals by the OPEC. Rising oil prices along with higher input costs with a trade war on may create some difficulties for the industry going forward. Also, continued lack of clarity over a definitive BREXIT deal is also adding to the environmental uncertainty in Europe. Further, the outbreak of the U.S. led global trade war marked by imposition of import tariffs, strained trade & political relations with traditional NATO allies and Trump's likely pull out from NAFTA going forward runs the risk of turning into a full blown global trade war which could completely derail the ongoing recovery of the world economy over near term, the signs of which are being reflected in the movements of global financial & foreign exchange markets and the onset of a weakness in manufacturing sentiment across key markets with growing environmental uncertainty & instability on the policy front.
Against this backdrop, the report provides a holistic analysis on the European Medium & Heavy Commercial Vehicles market with focus on a blend of quantitative & qualitative analysis. The analysis follows a three tiered methodology with Tier 1 focusing on a thorough analysis of the market dynamics & competitive landscape for the European (EU 30+EFTA) market followed by Tier 2 which focuses on a comprehensive analysis of the key strategies & plans for the Top 5 Europe based industry OEMs with the scope of analysis covering their global operations. Tier 3 focuses on Market Analysis and projected demand growth evolution for the European market over medium term which covers analysis of key market & technological trends, issues & challenges, market developments & potential growth opportunities which could be leveraged by the OEMs & the industry value chain.
Key Highlights
1. Economic Growth & Sustained Freight Activity Driving up Truck Demand across North America & Europe 2. Electrification nearing the Inflexion Point with Traditional OEMs rolling out Electric Versions of Conventional Truck Platforms 3. Increasing trend towards Downshifting of Engine Horsepower 4. Platooning/networked convoys & Autonomous Trucking inching closer towards becoming operational realities for the logistics sector 5. Analysis of Daimler's Strategies for Global Truck Market Leadership and Strategies & Plans for the Electric Commercial Vehicles Portfolio 6. Detailed Analysis of Volvo's Growth Strategies & Plans for the North American Market as a Key Growth Pivot 7. Insights into VW's Plans & Careful Shaping up of its Trucks Business 8. Increasing Capacity Utilization driving up Services Revenues across OEMs 9. Rising Oil Prices to put Strain on Profitability levels across fleet operators while simultaneously catalyzing Electrification 10. Trump initiated Trade War runs the risk of escalating into a Global Trade War bringing the world economy to the brink of another economic recession
Key Topics Covered
Part 1: Market Size, Segmentation & Competitive Landscape
Section - 1: European Medium & Heavy Truck Market (EU+EFTA)
Market Overview
Market Size
Market Segmentation
Key Drivers
Section 2: Competitive Landscape European Market for Medium & Heavy Trucks Market Share for OEMs
Part 2: Analysis on Key Industry OEMs
Section - 3: Top 6 Industry OEMs Profiles & Product Portfolio Snapshot
Daimler AG
Volvo AB
MAN Truck & Bus AG
Scania AB
Iveco S.p.A.
DAF N.V.
Section - 4: Financial Performance Analysis - Top 6 Industry OEMs
1. Revenue Base & Growth Trend 2. Revenues Split by Key Segments 3. Revenues Split by Key Geographic Markets & Regions 4. Gross Earnings & Margin Trend 5. Operating Earnings & Operating Margin Trend 6. Return on Sales Trend 7. Profitability Growth Trend 8. Cash Flow from Operations 9. R&D Expenditure Trend 10. CAPEX Trend 11. Order Intake & Truck Deliveries Trend
Section 5: OEM Strategies & Plans - Comprehensive Analysis of Strategies & Plans for Top 6 Industry OEMs - Daimler, Volvo, MAN, Scania, Iveco & DAF
Analysis Coverage:
Product Portfolio Strategies & Plans
Market Specific Strategies & Plans
R&D Strategies & Plans
Growth Strategies & Plans
Business and Corporate Strategies & Plans
Sales & Marketing Strategies & Plans
Production/Manufacturing Strategies & Plans
Financial Strategies & Plans
Acquisitions, Strategic Alliances & JVs
Other Strategies & Strategic Initiatives
Section - 6: SWOT Analysis - On Top 6 Industry OEMs
Strengths to be Leveraged
Weaknesses to be worked on
Opportunities to be capitalized upon
Threats to be negated & mitigated
Part 3: Market & Technology Trends, Emerging Demand Scenario and Strategic Market Outlook through 2026
