CEO comment - Fourth quarter 2025

The last quarter of 2025 was marked by ongoing turbulence, with tariffs and geopolitical tensions continuing to create an uncertain outlook for businesses. Despite this, there were encouraging signals toward the end of the year.

Global truck demand was mixed, improving in the later part of the year as economic confidence among our customers increased.

I am proud that we continued to perform well in the European market for heavy trucks, supported by short lead times and a strong customer response to our Super powertrain. Scania’s market share remained high at 17.6 percent in 2025, in a declining total market, confirming our position as one of the market leaders.

Despite improved deliveries in Europe, our total truck deliveries declined in the fourth quarter. This was primarily due to challenging market conditions in Brazil and Mexico, only partly offset by increased volumes in other markets in Latin America.

Scania’s truck order intake increased significantly during the fourth quarter, supported by growing demand in Europe and Asia. However, demand varied significantly by region and in Latin America orders were down compared to the same period last year.

Our People transport business continued its positive momentum, supported by a solid demand for our buses and coaches in Europe and Asia. Power Solutions had lower deliveries in the fourth quarter, while order intake increased, driven by Europe and Asia. Scania’s Services business kept growing steadily, continuing the progress of recent years. Supported by an increasing demand for our contracted services, service sales grew by ten percent in local currency in the fourth quarter. In our financial services business, the portfolio grew by four percent in local currency in 2025. Scania Financial Services supports more than a third of all Scania trucks sold.

The Swedish krona appreciated sharply in 2025, making it the strongest-performing G10 currency. This created significant currency headwinds for Scania. While adjusted return on sales* came in at 11.0 (14.3) percent, it would have been 13.5 percent with the exchange rate levels of the fourth quarter 2024.

Lower truck delivery volumes, only partly offset by the solid service business, led to sales revenue declining by eight percent in the fourth quarter, to SEK 52.8 (57.4) billion. Adjusted operating result fell by 31 percent to SEK 5.7 (8.2) billion, due to lower truck delivery volumes, currency headwinds and cost related to China.

I am also very pleased with our cash generation in the fourth quarter, which was strong and reflected the tangible impact of our continued efforts to structurally lower costs and improve flow efficiency.

Throughout 2025, the heavy-duty battery electric vehicles (BEV) market expanded more slowly than anticipated. This trend continued in the fourth quarter, although Scania saw an increase in BEV truck orders in Europe compared to last year.

The electric transition depends on a favourable regulatory and policy environment that creates strong business incentives for customers to choose BEVs over ICE vehicles. With policy makers sending mixed messages or taking too long to create these incentives, it’s not surprising that some customers are still hesitant to make the switch. While the lack of progress is frustrating, I remain confident that, once the right conditions are in place, adoption will ramp up quickly. Customer interest in electric transport is high – and I believe that this enthusiasm grows when customers can experience the technology firsthand.

This was clearly reflected in the response to Scania’s four-month European BEV roadshow, which concluded in the fourth quarter. Showcasing six BEV trucks in real-world operations, the roadshow provided an exciting opportunity to engage directly with customers and address their concerns about the viability of electric solutions face to face. Customer response was fantastic, confirming that interest in electric transport is both strong and growing.

To increase BEV adoption, customers need complete solutions tailored to their practical, everyday needs. By investing beyond our traditional core business – through for example Erinion, which provides depot charging infrastructure, and Scania Charging Access, our public charging service for battery-electric trucks and buses – we are building the integrated ecosystem that reduces risk and removes the barriers to electrification.

Alongside new ventures and business models, our Pilot Partner initiative is another important lever to accelerate electrification. By developing and piloting new BEV innovations together with customers and partners, we move from concept to real-world application faster – ensuring our vehicles perform in everyday operations, not just on paper.

During the quarter, we saw this collaborative approach in action with the launch of a fully electric heavy tipper designed for mining operations. Developed in partnership with LKAB, the truck is the first of its kind for Scania: an 8x4 tipper with two steerable front axles, providing enhanced stability on challenging mining roads. This groundbreaking project was further proof of Scania’s ability to electrify even the most demanding heavy-duty applications.

In my last quarterly statement I reported on a historic milestone for Scania: the inauguration of our new industrial hub in Rugao, China. I’m delighted that the facility – our first wholly owned truck production plant in China – is now up and running, serving as Scania’s third global industrial hub. Several hundred trucks have already been produced at the Rugao plant, and the factory launch has supported a higher order intake in Asia.

Following the launch, we now have two complementary commercial offerings in China. Alongside our premium Scania product range, we also offer NEXT ERA – a new tractor product range tailored specifically for China’s market, particularly the competitive long-haul and high-volume segment.

Unveiled at a customer event in Rugao, NEXT ERA shares core design principles from Scania’s Modular System but is optimised for high-volume transport and integrated with Chinese digital ecosystems. The range is supported through a dedicated NEXT ERA commercial and service network, initially with around 80 outlets and 150 service vehicles. So far response to the new range has been highly positive, and I’m excited to hear more reaction from customers as NEXT ERA is rolled out.

Reflecting on the year as a whole, 2025 was a turbulent period, with major market challenges. At every turn, Scania proved capable of adapting to those challenges. We simplified our organisational structure to better reflect new market realities. We continued to support the electric transition by investing in charging solutions and pushing for the policy changes needed to shift the customer business case in favour of electric transport. We established our presence in China, a key engine for long-term growth. Our focus was and remains on building resilience, advancing the transformation and staying close to customer needs.

Throughout this time, our commitment to delivering a sustainable future for heavy transport did not waver. We now offer battery-electric solutions for most transport applications in Europe. Following a slower-than-expected BEV ramp up in 2025, we are now fully prepared to scale, with a complete ecosystem around the customer: vehicles, services and charging support.

Guided by the Scania Way, we will continue to draw on our unique strengths and act according to our deeply held principles, regardless of how our business landscape evolves.

As we move further into 2026, Scania is well positioned to continue driving the shift.