Daimler Truck leaders lowered their North American sales forecast by more than 10%. The global truck maker with the best-selling Class 8 truck in the U.S. has managed the tough 2025 OEM market by suspending production for short bursts rather than laying off workers.
CFO Eva Scherer said the company hasn’t made any significant changes across its North American factory footprint this year in response to tariffs or weak demand. She spoke to analysts after Daimler, the parent of North American OEMs Freightliner and Western Star (along with Mercedes-Benz Trucks and others globally), reported first-quarter results. (Competitor Volvo Group is laying off hundreds of workers at its U.S. operations.)
However, Daimler executives now expect to sell 155,000 to 175,000 units this year, down from their previous outlook of 180,000 to 200,000. (Daimler sold 191,000 units in North America last year.) They’ve also taken down their forecast for the North American heavy-duty market to about 275,000 units from 300,000 units.
In the first three months of this year, Daimler Truck North America sold 38,992 units versus 46,229 in early 2024. That translated into revenues of about $6.0 billion and earnings before interest and taxes of roughly $860 million—the latter being 7% higher year over year despite sales slipping by roughly the same amount.
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Scherer said a supplier’s reimbursement over defects with products made in recent years helped the North American group’s bottom line but also noted that earnings would have been strong without that boost. Two factors that contributed: More of the company’s sales were to smaller fleets (and hence at better prices) than in normal quarters; and its product mix was geared less to medium-duty trucks and more to higher-margin heavy-duty on-highway and vocational trucks.
Of smaller customers’ higher activity early this year, Scherer said a “certain [number] of their customers are not impacted by tariffs or economic uncertainty, and some of them are also replacing older equipment—which they couldn’t get during the capacity-constrained years.”
Scherer said she expects sales and profitability this quarter to be in line with the year’s first three months. Beyond that, she added, sales volumes will need to pick up—something the easing in U.S.-China tensions might spur—for Daimler to maintain its production pace and avoid job cuts.
“Of course, we do hope the large fleets will start ordering again if the economic momentum improves,” she said.
Shares of Daimler Truck (Ticker: DTG) rose nearly 3% in European trading on the heels of the company’s results and conference call. Over the past six months, they have gained about 11% in value, growing the company’s market capitalization to nearly $36 billion.
