ICCT: sales of e-trucks continue to grow amid slow overall market

The non-profit International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has published a study about the European heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) market in the first three quarters of 2024, specifically the development of electric vehicle market share. Even with a slow Q3 in the overall market, the growth of electric heavy commercial vehicles continues.

The European truck market experienced a slow Q3 2024, with just 74,000 total sales of heavy-duty vehicles (medium to heavy trucks and buses) after a historic high of 110,000 units in Q2 2024. The market share of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles remains marginal, with just under 2,900 units in Q3 2024, or about 1.2%.

Electric still growing amid slower 2024

However, even with a big drop in total sales, the growth of electric heavy-duty vehicles continues. The figures for Q1-Q3 2024 have almost equaled or even surpassed, in the case of light and medium trucks, the total sales of zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles in 2023.

In other words, another record year for e-trucks and e-buses is very likely for 2024, while the total market seems to have shrunk a little (from nearly 300,000 units in Q1-Q3 2023 to just over 260,000 in Q1-Q3 2024).

Big drop in sales in Q3 2024

Another aspect of the ICCT’s study that stands out is the significant variations between countries. Countries like Germany and Italy sold much fewer heavy-duty vehicles (40% and 38% less in Q3 2024 vs. Q2, respectively). In contrast, several smaller EU member states saw a sharp increase in their total market share.

The truckmakers most affected by the 32% decline in total HDV sales were Scania (40% decrease in sales from Q2 to Q3 2024), Iveco (-38%,) and Mercedes (-35%). Comparatively, Volvo Trucks came out relatively unscathed (-19%). Renault Trucks and MAN both saw a drop of 26%, placing them in the middle.

The most popular truck manufacturers in Europe for this year thus far are Mercedes (20% market share), MAN (14%) and Iveco (13%), followed by Volvo Trucks (12%), Scania (12%), DAF (10%) and Renault Trucks (7%).