Germany – The commercial vehicle arm of Daimler AG, Daimler Truck AG of Stuttgart, reported truck and bus sales in 2020 of 378,500 units, which was around one-third below the volume sold in 2019 of 521,100 vehicles. It said it experienced a significant decrease in sales volumes in 2020 in important markets of North America and the EU30 of around 30% during whole year and by more than half in April and May during the second quarter in 2020.

The lower sales volume led to a significant drop in revenue to approximately, EUR35bn in 2020 compared with EUR44bn in 2019. The adjusted earnings before interests and taxes (EBIT) reached EUR678m (2019: EUR2.672bn) and the adjusted return on sales (RoS) in 2020 was just 2.0% (2019: 6.0%). Despite this change in margin during 2020, research and development expenditure during the year at Daimler Trucks & Buses amounted to EUR1.5bn compared with EUR1.7bn in 2019. Key topics of R&D focus remained automated driving, electromobility (including the eActros) and enhancing connectivity. Other areas of focus included successor generations for existing products, fuel efficiency and the reduction of emissions, as well as tailor-made products and technologies for important growth markets.