Traton’s 2024 financial results show quite a steady situation: all the brands

Traton managed to increase sales revenues by 1% in 2024, reaching €47.5 billion. Despite slightly lower unit sales, the group states it benefited from a favorable market mix, effective pricing strategies, and strong performance in its financial services segment, which saw a 22% rise in revenue. This is what emerged from the presentation of the Group’s 2024 results on March 10 (here’s what happened in 2023).

More into details, incoming orders of trucks fell by 1% from 210,617 to 208,519, while incoming orders of MAN TGE vans fell by 6%, with the bus sector up by 8% in 2024.

The adjusted operating result of the Traton group in 2024 was €350 million higher at €4.4 billion (2023: €4.0 billion). At 9.2%, the adjusted operating return on sales not only exceeded the previous year’s figure (2023: 8.6%) but was also slightly higher than the forecast range of 8.0% to 9.0%, the group states. This increase was due to effective price management, combined with improved cost discipline in the industrial business. The book-to-bill ratio, or the ratio of incoming orders to unit sales, remained unchanged at 0.8 in the reporting period.

Traton: the push to electromobility

Traton’s push towards electromobility was evident in the continued development of electric truck models across its brands. Scania, in addition, made considerable progress by founding Erinion, a company specializing in charging solutions for electric commercial vehicles. Meanwhile, MAN registered strong interest in its battery electric heavy-duty trucks.

In terms of brands, Scania recorded sales revenue of €18.9 billion (2023: €17.9 billion) in fiscal year 2024, primarily thanks to the very strong growth in the New Vehicles business in South America. Adjusted operating return on sales climbed to 14.1% (2023: 12.7%), 1.4 percentage points higher than in the previous year. This was due to the volume-driven increase in sales revenue, a favorable price and product mix, and lower product costs. Scania improved its unit sales by 6% to 102,100 vehicles (2023: 96,700). Incoming orders declined by 4% to 81,000 vehicles (2023: 84,100), the group says.

MAN Truck & Bus benefited in 2024 from its successful realignment program, maintaining an adjusted operating return on sales of 7.2% (2023: 7.3%), on a par with the previous year. However, customers in the European market remained cautious, particularly in Germany, MAN’s home market. Furthermore, MAN says it was able to limit the decline in sales revenue to 7%, which totaled €13.7 billion (2023: €14.8 billion), notwithstanding a drop of 17% in unit sales to 96,000 vehicles (2023: 116,000). At 77,100 vehicles (2023: 86,800), incoming orders were down 11% year-on-year.

In North America, International (formerly Navistar) continued to expand its electric vehicle offering, including electric school buses and medium-duty trucks. This move aligns with Traton’s commitment to providing a full range of electric solutions, enhancing their presence in the zero-emissions transport market.

Looking to the future, Traton expects global economic conditions to be slightly weaker in 2025, with demand for trucks and buses likely to decline in core markets. Traton states: “we expect demand for trucks to decline in our core markets. Across all brands and all vehicles, we expect that unit sales development will range between –5% and +5%. Sales revenue of the Traton group and Traton Operations should also come in within a range between –5% to +5%. The TRATON Group’s adjusted operating return on sales is forecast between 7.5% and 8.5%. Net cash flow of Traton Operations is expected to come in between €2.2 billion and €2.7 billion. Our 2025 full-year outlook is subject to future geopolitical developments, particularly in the USA, and their impact on Tratons group’s business”.

The words of CEO Christian Levin

Christian Levin, CEO of Traton: “We look back on a year full of significant milestones and crucial groundwork. In 2024, we at the Traton made great strides on our way toward becoming a stronger, more efficient Group. Progressing with the introduction of our Traton Modular System was pivotal in this regard. At the same time, we are systematically driving the merger of significant sections of our brands’ research and development departments into a cross-brand organization”.

“Although unit sales of battery electric vehicles were down year-on-year in 2024, the outlook for 2025 is promising. Incoming orders in this segment jumped by almost 60% to just under 4,000 electric vehicles. At the Traton group, we firmly believe that the future of transportation is electric and sustainable”.