All the major European truck manufacturers are falling over themselves to launch new electric models to help build market leadership for when no diesel trucks will be sold in a little more than a handful of years from now.
So, how’s it going? Well, if you are sitting where Volvo is, then it’s going quite well thank you. Volvo Trucks has managed to reach an impressive 32 per cent market share for heavy trucks – that compares to just a share of around 16% for sales of all trucks regardless of fuel type behind DAF, MAN and Mercedes.
It is the European market leaders, Mercedes, that have been relatively slow off the market in sales terms – with a European share of 20% of the traditional heavy truck market, the three pointed star only has around 10% of the electric heavy truck market. The second largest manufacturer, MAN with a 17% share of the diesel market has only seen around 10% of all battery electric truck sales.
Renault Trucks is the only other European truck manufacturer to be outselling their diesel market share (note that Renault is wholly owned by Volvo Trucks so should come as little surprise).
A Little Perspective Required
Whilst it is impressive that Volvo Trucks have stolen a march on the other heavy truck makers, it is still early days in the race for electric truck market share. In 2022, for example, there were only 1,041 electric heavy trucks sold compared to over 250,000 trucks in total in Europe. There is still a long way to go.
Roger Alm, President of Volvo Trucks, says: “We are determined to lead the electric truck transformation and our market leading position in 2022, not only in Europe, but also in North America, is proof that we are doing just that.
“Although, the market for electric trucks is still small compared to the traditional diesel variants, the trend is clear: many of our customers are now starting their own shift to electric. We intend to be the catalyst for this transition and aim for 50 per cent of our global sales of new trucks to be electric in 2030.”
Since Volvo Trucks started production of fully electric trucks in 2019, the company has sold more than 4,300 electric trucks in more than 38 countries around the world. Volvo currently offers the industry’s broadest product line-up of electric trucks in series production, catering to a very wide variety of operational domains both in and between cities.
Which Country Has bought the Most Electric Heavy Trucks?
It comes as no surprise that the two countries housing the leading truck makers are in the top two positions for buying electric heavy trucks. If a manufacturer needs to carry out extended testing, then what better way to do so than in their own back yard. The two surprises, however, are Norway at third place and the Switzerland and UK in fifth and sixth respectively.
- Germany – 198
- Sweden – 169
- Norway – 150
- France – 118
- Switzerland – 103
- UK – 101
- Netherlands – 89
- Spain – 79
- Denmark – 48
- Belgium – 17