Truck & Bus Manufacturing Industry Profile

Companies in this industry manufacturing heavy duty trucks including companies that manufacture and assemble heavy duty vehicles and buses. Major companies include Navistar and PACCAR (both based in the US), along with Dongfeng Motor and FAW (both based in China), Mercedes-Benz Group (Germany), Tata Motors (India), and Volvo Cars (Sweden).

Globally, the leading countries for heavy truck and bus manufacturing include China, Germany, India, Japan and the US. Commercial truck manufacturers in emerging markets are growing faster than their more established competitors in North America and Western Europe.

The US heavy truck and bus manufacturing industry includes about 80 establishments (single-location companies and units of multi-location companies) with combined annual revenue of about $30 billion. This industry does not include makers of light trucks, which are covered in the Automobile Manufacturing industry profile.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Heavy truck demand is driven by growth in the agriculture, manufacturing, construction, and retail sectors. Bus demand is driven by growth in the number of school-aged children and investment in public transportation systems. The profitability of individual companies depends on volume and sales of high-margin options. Large companies enjoy economies of scale in purchasing. Small manufacturers can compete by offering highly customized products. The US industry is highly concentrated: the top 20 companies account for more than 95% of revenue.

Companies in the industry compete with makers of transportation equipment such as trains and planes, which also move ...