Truckmaking Giants Favour Shareholder Payouts Over-Investing into the Zero-Emission Transition

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In the lead-up to the first-ever EU truck CO2 target in 2025, major truckmakers have come to increasingly prioritise their shareholders over making the necessary investments in their own clean transition. In doing so, they risk losing out to new competition.

The European Union adopted its first CO₂ standards for trucks in 2019, setting CO₂ reduction targets for 2025 and 2030. Co-legislators later raised the ambition in June 2024, including a higher 2030 target, an expanded scope, and new targets for 2035 and 2040. But three months later, truckmakers were already calling on the EU to reopen the regulation.

As truckmakers describe the uptake of zero-emission trucks as “too slow, too concentrated, and too fragmented”, they are quick to blame enabling conditions. Away from their own responsibility, they point instead to public charging infrastructure or road toll policies as the key bottlenecks to truck decarbonisation. But high vehicle price and lack of range—both squarely within OEM control—remain the two largest roadblocks to battery-electric and hydrogen trucks.

Now, a new Profundo report looking at Annual Reports from 2019 to 2024 (supplemented by T&E analysis of 2025 Annual Reports) finds that major European truckmakers increasingly reward their shareholders at the expense of necessary zero-emission research and development (R&D) and investments. Unlike what truckmakers claim, they could do more to electrify.

Shareholder rewards rise while R&D and zero-emission investments stagnate

Our analysis finds that in 2025, average shareholder rewards reached 4.9% of truckmaker revenues, exceeding spending on R&D (4.4% of revenues) for the first time since 2019. These R&D expenses are spread thin across multiple areas such as autonomous driving, vehicle platforms, and diesel and gas engines. Zero-emission R&D is thus only a minor share of total R&D investments, and dwarfed by shareholder payouts.

PACCAR, the US-based owner of DAF Trucks, spent 8.1% of its revenues on shareholder payouts in 2025, five times what it spent on R&D, the largest gap of all truckmakers analysed here. PACCAR’s shareholders have received over €6 billion since 2022, while the group spent less than €2 billion on R&D in the same timeframe.

Volvo Group, comprising both Volvo Trucks and Renault Trucks, paid out 7.9% of its revenues in dividends in 2025, up from 7.0% in 2024. In contrast, it reduced its R&D spending from 6.1% of its revenues in 2024 to 5.5% in 2025. Only 26% of its R&D spending (i.e. 1.4% of its revenues) went to low- and zero-emission projects. In addition, Volvo Group invested 1.8% of its revenues into Taxonomy-aligned low- and zero-emission vehicles in 2025. Overall, Volvo Group has given €12 billion to its shareholders since 2022. This is triple the €4 billion it spent on low- and zero-emission R&D and Taxonomy-aligned investments.

Daimler Truck is the largest truckmaker considered here with regards to global revenues, reaching €49 billion euros in 2025. Since it spun off from Mercedes-Benz Group in 2021, shareholder payouts have rapidly caught up with R&D spending, each now accounting for 4.6% of its revenues.

And shareholder rewards could soon overtake R&D investments, as Daimler Truck committed to an “increased focus on shareholder return” with a high dividend payout policy and a new share buyback programme at its Capital Market Day in July 2025. At the same time, it announced cost reductions in R&D and other areas as well as lower battery and hydrogen investments in the United States, but increasing diesel investments.

TRATON on the other hand—the parent company of Scania and MAN—consistently prioritises R&D over shareholder payouts. In 2025, it spent 1.9% of its revenues on shareholder rewards compared to 4.9% on R&D and 1.6% in Taxonomy-aligned low- and zero-emission investments.

Looking at specific projects can help put zero-emission investments into perspective. In some ways, TRATON has had one foot on the electric accelerator, and one on the brake pedal. In April 2025, MAN announced having invested €500 million into its Nuremberg site. This was equally split into battery pack and module production, and production of its latest generation of diesel engines.

Meanwhile, Scania inaugurated its €2 billion industrial hub in Rugao, China in October 2025, mentioning that China is a global leader in sustainable transport innovation. But while the facility partly runs on green electricity, there is no information that electric truck production will be in focus. On the contrary, much of the inauguration ceremony advertised the Scania Super engine.

IVECO Group, soon to be acquired by Tata Motors, is the only truckmaker whose reported Taxonomy-aligned investments into low- and zero-emission vehicles and R&D spending have consistently exceeded shareholder returns.

Time to put electric trucks first

Preparing for the 2025 CO₂ target could have been the opportunity to catch up with China in the electric race, where 16% of new trucks were electric in 2025. Instead, European truckmakers have grown to increasingly prioritise shareholder payouts. CO₂ reductions have mainly been achieved through marginal improvements (such as engine efficiency and aerodynamics) rather than by ramping up electric truck production.

In doing so, they are putting future growth at risk. If they want any hope of gaining market share in China (the largest market for medium and heavy commercial vehicles worldwide) or competing in export markets, zero-emission R&D and investments must become their top priority. Even European truckmakers’ home market is exposed to increased competition. Windrose, SuperPanther, BYD, and others are all planning to launch heavy electric truck sales in Europe in 2026. Yet, European OEMs seem more focused on lobbying for more flexibility and an early review.

It is therefore key that the European Union upholds ambition on the truck CO₂ emissions reduction targets. Without strong CO₂ regulation ensuring manufacturers invest in zero-emission vehicles, the EU is leaving its truck industry vulnerable to new competition. The EU already weakened the truck CO₂ standards once in March 2026 at the behest of manufacturers. Now more than ever, maintaining the regulatory timeline and ambition agreed in 2024 is key to avoid further delaying electrification.

Article from T&E. By Max Molliere, Principal Data Analyst, E-Mobility