International Motors Q4 Truck, Bus Sales Skid 34% From '24

(Traton Group)

International Motors’ sales volumes dived 34% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2025 to 15,800 trucks and buses from 23,800 in the year-ago period, parent company Traton said Jan. 20.

Overall in 2025, International Motors’ truck and bus sales slumped 30% to 63,700 vehicles from 90,600 compared with a year earlier.

“The U.S. market remained weak in 2025 amid tariff-related uncertainties and an ongoing freight recession, leading to continued caution among truck customers,” Traton said in comments accompanying the figures. “By contrast, bus unit sales rose strongly.”

Lisle, Ill.-based International Motors is the parent company of IC Bus, one of the three largest school bus manufacturers in the United States, as well as the eponymous truck brand.

The decline in truck sales was not unexpected.

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On Jan. 16, Daimler Truck North America said it sold 34,017 trucks and buses in Q4, a 27.5% decrease compared with 46,906 vehicles in the year-ago period. DTNA is the parent company of truck brands Freightliner and Western Star plus Thomas Built Buses.

Both International and DTNA cut production plant jobs during 2025 due to a weaker-than-expected market for heavy-duty trucks.

Demand for trucks initially was forecast to rebound as the year progressed, but uncertainty — much of it due to mercurial Trump administration trade policy actions — stymied carrier investment plans.

Looking forward, industrywide December orders offered a potential glimmer of hope for original equipment manufacturers’ fortunes.

ACT Research said preliminary Class 8 truck orders jumped 118% in December to 42,700 units from 19,547 in November and 16% year over year from 36,500 trucks.

Greater clarity over the Trump administration’s position on a Biden-era requirement that will cut nitrogen-oxide emissions for 2027 model-year heavy-duty trucks also could boost carrier investment levels, analysts say. The requirement will drop to 35 milligrams per horsepower-hour from 200 mg/hp-hour. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to publish an updated rule in March or April.

However, optimism about an upturn in freight activity and rates is tempered as the trucking industry enters a fourth calendar year of a historically lengthy downturn.

Global Sales Fall 9% in Q4

Globally, Traton truck and bus sales in the most recent quarter fell 9% year over year to 81,000 vehicles from 88,800.

Traton sold 305,500 trucks and buses in 2025, also down 9% from 334,200 vehicles in 2024, in what it characterized as a “weak and uncertain market environment.”

As the truck and bus arm of Volkswagen Group, Traton also is the parent company of Scania, MAN and Volkswagen Truck & Bus.

Scania sold 25,700 trucks and buses in the final three months of 2025, 8% fewer vehicles than the 28,000 sold in the prior-year period.

The division’s truck sales declined slightly in Europe but fell substantially in Brazil, Traton said. The Brazilian truck market continues to be hampered by increasing interest rates and high inflation, it added, with Scania’s focus on heavy-duty trucks taking an even larger toll. In contrast, Scania’s bus sales rose in Europe and South America.

Scania sold 94,100 trucks and buses in 2025, a decrease of 8% compared with 102,100 vehicles in 2024.

MAN sales rose 12% in the final quarter of 2025 to 30,000 trucks and buses from 26,000 in Q4 2024. Overall in 2025, the division’s sales climbed 6% year over year to 101,600 vehicles from 96,000.

Truck sales at MAN were about the same as in 2024 despite the weak market, Traton said, but bus and van sales rose.

Traton will release complete full-year and Q4 earnings March 4.