The German commercial vehicle manufacturers revealed their 2023 sales figures yesterday.
Despite critical supply bottlenecks in key regions, Daimler Truck achieved a rise in global unit sales, totalling 526,053 trucks and buses, up from 520,291 units in 2022.
The Trucks North America segment demonstrated a 4% growth, reaching 195,014 units.
However, the Mercedes-Benz segment experienced a slight decline of 5%, attributed to a challenging market scenario in Brazil. On the positive side, its Asian division saw a 3% increase in unit sales, reaching 161,171 units.
Daimler Buses exhibited robust sales, with a notable 9% increase, totalling 26,168 units.
A significant highlight was the remarkable surge in the sale of battery-electric vehicles, with Daimler Truck selling 3,443 units, marking a staggering 277% increase compared to the previous year.
Martin Daum, CEO of Daimler Truck Holding AG, expressed confidence in achieving the company’s financial ambitions for 2023 despite persistent supply challenges.
“In 2023 we have again increased our sales despite a continuously challenging supply situation which prevented even higher sales. We are very confident of achieving our financial ambitions for 2023. Our sales of battery-electric vehicles more than tripled compared to the previous year. We have expanded our product portfolio of battery electric vehicles for our customers in 2023 to ten different models. This is the foundation for future growth and underlines our aspiration to lead the transportation of the future.”
MAN Truck & Bus achieves 37% sales growth in 2023
MAN Truck & Bus also reported substantial sales growth across all product areas in the financial year 2023, marking a rebound from previous challenging years.
The company delivered approximately 116,000 vehicles to customers, which is a 37% increase compared to the preceding year.
HGV sales grew particularly massively, surging by 44% year-on-year to around 83,700 units.
Bus sales also recorded a commendable uptick, rising by 19% to around 5,700 units, with the market for coaches, in particular, seeing a noteworthy recovery.
Friedrich Baumann, Chief Sales and Customer Solutions Officer at MAN Truck & Bus SE, credited the success to the innovative product portfolio and customer-oriented services:
“After some very challenging years, we are back on the road to success. We were able to score points with our innovative product portfolio and our customer-oriented services, which is one of the reasons why the 2023 financial year brought us record sales in some cases. Thanks to a strong team performance across all areas of the company, we were able to meet the extremely high demand in the best possible way and deliver more vehicles and engines than we have for years.”
Notably, MAN’s commitment to decarbonization was evident in the rise of battery-electric vehicle sales. Sales of electric city buses surged from 263 in 2022 to 771 in 2023, aligning with the company’s strategy to have half of all new MAN trucks and around 90% of new city buses equipped with battery-electric drives by 2030.
The van business witnessed a remarkable 23% increase, with MAN Truck & Bus surpassing pre-corona figures and delivering more vans than ever before, totalling around 26,600 units.
Additionally, the external engine business achieved its second most successful year, with around 11,600 engines sold, over half of them destined for the agricultural sector.