Daimler Truck with steady Q3 results: North America strong, Europe challenging

In the third quarter, Daimler Truck Holding AG (Daimler Truck) delivered steady results on Group level in revenues, earnings, and profitability. While the performance in North America continued to be strong, Mercedes-Benz is facing an ongoing difficult market environment in Europe, with Brazil contributing positively. Markets in Asia remained weak, while the segment Trucks Asia delivered solid results in Q3.

Daimler Buses achieved profitability at a record level. With EUR13.1 billion the Group’s revenue is slightly below the previous year’s third quarter (Q3 2023: EUR13.9 billion). Adjusted Group EBIT in the reporting period was EUR1.19 billion (Q3 2023: EUR1.34 billion).

In the Industrial Business (IB), adjusted EBIT was EUR1.15 billion (Q3 2023: EUR1.30 billion). Adjusted return on sales (adj. ROS) in the IB was at 9.3% (Q3 2023: 9.8%).

Free cash flow (FCF) of the IB decreased to minus EUR41 million (Q3 2023: EUR1,088 million). Earnings per share in Q3 amounted to EUR0.77 (Q3 2023: EUR1.13). The Group’s global unit sales in Q3 totaled 114,917 units (Q3 2023: 128,861).

Sales of battery-electric vehicles grew by 36% to 666 vehicles (Q3 2023: 491). Karin Radstrom, CEO of Daimler Truck: “We are on track to deliver another solid year for the Daimler Truck Group in 2024. An important driver in Q3 has been our continued strong performance in North America.

The successful turnarounds at Daimler Buses and in Brazil show, that the hard work of the last years is paying off. In the segment Mercedes-Benz Trucks we still have more potential and we are determined to continue to work to improve our performance.” Outlook unchanged

The full-year guidance for 2024 remains unchanged: For the current financial year, the Group is expecting unit sales of 460 to 480 thousand units and a revenue of EUR53 to EUR55 billion. Adjusted EBIT is expected to be slightly below prior year’s level, EBIT significantly below prior year’s level. For the Industrial Business, Daimler Truck expects a revenue of EUR50 to EUR52 billion and an adjusted ROS of 8% to 9.5%.

The free cash flow of the Industrial Business is expected to be on prior year level. Eva Scherer, CFO of Daimler Truck: “Our key focus is to further increase the resilience of our business. In North America, our vocational truck strategy is paying off.

Despite the weakness in the on-highway market, Trucks North America delivered another strong quarter. For Q4, our full attention will be on Free Cash Flow. We are committed to delivering another year with an attractive cash return for our shareholders.”

Key Figures – Group and Segments

Group
Q3 2024 Q3 2023 +/- YTD 2024 YTD 2023 +/-
Unit Sales 114,917 128,861 -11% 336,023 385,921 -13%
Revenue* 13,140 13,860 -5% 39,727 40,940 -3%
EBIT (adjusted)* 1,185 1,340 -12% 3,563 3,930 -9%
ROS (adjusted, IB)** 9.3 9.8   9.3 9.7  
Free Cash Flow (IB)* -41 1,088   888 1,638 -46%
Incoming Orders 94,709 99,070 -4% 293,085 318,941 -8%
Earnings per share (EPS) in EUR 0.77 1.13 -32% 2.69 3.14 -14%
Trucks North America
  Q3 2024 Q3 2023 +/- YTD 2024 YTD 2023 +/-
Unit Sales 49,176 47,249 4% 143,626 146,758 -2%
Revenue* 5,991 5,722 5% 17,814 17,500 2%
EBIT (adjusted)* 725 711 2% 2,324 2,169 7%
ROS (adjusted)** 12.1 12.4   13.0 12.4  
Mercedes-Benz
  Q3 2024 Q3 2023 +/- YTD 2024 YTD 2023 +/-
Unit Sales 28,688 40,077 -28% 91,177 113,805 -20%
Revenue* 4,398 5,430 -19% 13,806 15,973 -14%
EBIT (adjusted)* 283 535 -47% 1,003 1,520 -34%
ROS (adjusted)** 6.4 9.9   7.3 9.5  
Trucks Asia
  Q3 2024 Q3 2023 +/- YTD 2024 YTD 2023 +/-
Unit Sales 32,245 38,052 -15% 89,044 118,359 -25%
Revenue* 1,483 1,659 -11% 4,397 5,106 -14%
EBIT (adjusted)* 82 45 83% 50 216 -77%
ROS (adjusted)** 5.5 2.7   1.1 4.2  
Daimler Buses
  Q3 2024 Q3 2023 +/- YTD 2024 YTD 2023 +/-
Unit Sales 6,677 6,789 -2% 18,929 18,540 2%
Revenue* 1,234 1,189 4% 3,676 3,117 18%
EBIT (adjusted)* 141 70 101% 315 112 181%
ROS (adjusted)** 11.4 5.9   8.6 3.6  
Financial Services
  Q3 2024 Q3 2023 +/- YTD 2024 YTD 2023 +/-
New Business* 2,816 3,141 -10% 8,576 8,048 7%
Revenue* 831 688 21% 2,441 1,932 26%
EBIT (adjusted)* 39 45 -14% 102 161 -37%
Return on equity (adjusted)** 5.7 7.7   5.2 9.4  

*in millions of EUR
**in percent

Additional information and documents such as the Interim Report, Factbook as well as a detailed Q3 2024 disclosure on Daimler Truck’s five reporting segments are available online in Daimler Truck’s investor relations section: