Global truck market shrinks due to Covid-19

The global truck market contracted in 2020 due to the economic effects related to the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Daimler, the severe economic crisis caused demand for heavy trucks to drop dramatically in many of the international markets in which the company operates.

First, the North American market contracted 30 percent.

Also the demand for heavy trucks fell substantially in the EU30 region (European Union, United Kingdom, Norway and Switzerland), where it decreased by around 28%, according to the latest estimates.

By contrast, the decline in Brazil was less pronounced than initially expected and amounted to around 10 percent.

Similarly, the Japanese market did better than expected, falling about 7 percent.

On the other hand, the demand for buses in the EU30 region was significantly below the level of the previous year and the market also contracted considerably in Brazil.

Trucks and cars

Despite the fact that demand for automobiles already reached its lowest point in the second quarter and gradually recovered thereafter, the global market contracted substantially around 15% during the year as a whole.

The Chinese market, which was the first major sales market affected by the pandemic, declined slightly.

However, at around 6%, this drop was less severe than initially expected, according to Daimler.

Meanwhile, the US light vehicle market developed somewhat better than was feared during the initial stage of the pandemic. However, around 15%, the fall in demand was still very pronounced.

On the contrary, the Covid-19 pandemic had an especially severe impact on the European market. Total car demand decreased by more than 20% in Europe.

Of the three largest individual markets in Europe, Germany performed best, registering a decline of around 19%, while markets in France and the UK saw even larger declines of around 25% and almost 30% respectively.

Vans

The economic impact of the covid-19 pandemic also had a notable effect on the demand for vans.

In the EU30 region, the market was significantly lower than the previous year.

The market volume for medium and large trucks was 12% lower than the previous year, while the decline in the small truck segment was even more severe, by more than 25 percent.

The US market for large trucks was also substantially lower than the previous year, declining 19 percent.

Demand for large trucks also declined considerably in Brazil.

In China, however, the midsize truck market was significantly above the level of the previous year.