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DTNA Q2 Sales Pacing 50% Ahead of Q1
North American Outlook Shows Promise, CFO Says
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Key Takeaways:
- Daimler Truck North America sales are pacing about 50% higher in Q2 than Q1, executives said May 6 during the parent company’s earnings call.
- Q1 DTNA sales fell to 29,432 vehicles, the lowest since 2010, dragging revenue 29% and EBIT 73% lower, largely blamed on tariff-driven order weakness.
- Orders jumped 86% at DTNA, Q2 production is fully booked, and Daimler expects a second-half pickup despite ongoing tariff headwinds.
Daimler Truck North America sales are pacing ahead 50% in the second quarter of 2026 compared with the first three months of the year, a top executive at parent company Daimler Truck said May 6.
The division’s Q1 sales totaled 29,432 trucks and buses, a 24.5% decrease compared with 38,992 in the year-ago period. Those results were the lowest Q1 total seen since 2010, Chief Financial Officer Eva Scherer told analysts and investors during Daimler Truck’s earnings call.
First-quarter sales at DTNA — parent company of Freightliner, Western Star and Thomas Built Buses — fell 13.5% sequentially compared with 34,017 trucks and buses in the fourth quarter of 2025, which itself was down 27.5% year on year from 46,906 vehicles, company data shows.
Daimler said the decline in Q1 sales was largely due to weak order intake in 2025 as a result of the Trump administration’s introduction of tariffs and related market uncertainties.
But Q2 is seeing a marked improvement.
“Our production program for Q2 is already fully booked. Q3 and Q4 we’re filling up nicely. I would say that’s an absolutely healthy seasonality that we see there. We’re used to ramping up and down, that’s what we’re also doing now,” Scherer said.
However, Portland, Ore.-based DTNA’s Q1 sales slump negatively affected both the division’s financial metrics and those of its parent company, Daimler said when unveiling its quarterly earnings.
DTNA revenue in the most recent quarter fell 29% to $4.51 billion from $6.35 billion a year earlier, while earnings before interest and taxation slumped 73% year on year to $245.6 million from $914.2 million a year earlier. The division’s return on sales fell to 0.2% from 14.3%.
The parent company’s Q1 net profit tumbled 80% year over year to the equivalent of $175 million from $880.1 million a year earlier. Daimler Truck reports earnings in euros, with all conversions current as of May 6. The company’s Q1 revenue fell 14% to $10.74 billion in the most recent quarter from $12.48 billion a year earlier.
Daimler’s global truck and bus sales fell 9% to 68,849 vehicles from 75,758 vehicles in the year-ago period. Mercedes-Benz Trucks sales rose 13% year on year to 34,486 vehicles from 30,645 units in the same period 12 months earlier.
On a country-by-country basis, U.S. sales in Q1 fell 20% to 26,741 units from 33,544 vehicles, while Canadian sales dropped 49.3% to 1,901 vehicles from 3,749 trucks and buses, and Mexican sales more than halved to 735 vehicles from 1,699.
Orders on the Rise
Globally, Daimler Truck’s orders rose 50% year on year in Q1 to 114,043 trucks and buses from 76,222 vehicles. The increase was driven by a jump in DTNA orders, which soared 86% year over year in Q1 to 59,195 trucks and buses from 31,740 vehicles.
“[DTNA’s] growing backlog gives us confidence for the remainder of the year,” Scherer told analysts.
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Scherer
Scherer said carriers had renewal needs that had been deferred due to the stubbornly long freight recession that has beset the industry. Demand is set to increase further, she said, due to the knock-on impact of stronger English-language proficiency enforcement on U.S. roads.
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Radstrom
“Our market share stood at 37.7% [in Q1], making us again the clear market leader. Based on our strong order share, we expect our market share to improve as the year progresses,” Daimler CEO Karin Radstrom added.
Daimler continues to expect North American heavy-duty market sales to land between 250,000 and 290,000 trucks, with a pickup in the second half of the year supported by replacement demand, Scherer said.
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But Scherer also noted that DTNA continued to face tariff headwinds, estimated in the “low-triple-digit million” euros for the first quarter, with full tariff effects reflected for the first time during the quarter.
Looking forward, Daimler said macroeconomic and geopolitical developments continue to cloud its outlook, particularly the impact of U.S. trade policy.
The company also said it is operating from the assumption that the United States-Mexico-Canada trade pact will remain in place.
