DTNA’s fifth-generation Freightliner Cascadia. (Daimler Trucks North America)
key takeaways:
- Daimler Trucks North America posted its first year-over-year quarterly sales gain in six quarters, with sales rising 8% to 41,687 vehicles in the second quarter of 2026.
- Despite earlier weakness related to tariffs reflecting improved freight demand and order momentum, Q1 sales are down 24.5% and first half totals are still down 8%.
- Strong industry orders, including more than 100% year-over-year growth in June, suggest a potential profit in the third quarter.
Daimler Trucks North America sales of trucks and buses rose 8% year over year in the second quarter of 2026, the first quarterly sales increase compared to the year-ago period in six quarters.
The parent company of Freightliner, Western Star and Thomas Built Buses sold 41,687 vehicles in the second quarter, compared with 38,580 trucks and school buses in the year-ago period, a year-over-year increase from the first quarter since the third quarter of 2024.
Portland, Ore.-based DTNA’s sales also increased by 41.6% compared with the first three months of 2026, as the carrier’s confidence in the ongoing boom in the freight market increases.
Parent company Daimler Trucks said on July 8 that DTNA sales in the first half of 2026 fell 8% year on year to 71,119 trucks and buses, from 77,572 vehicles in the year-ago period.
The division sold a total of 29,432 trucks and buses in the first quarter, down 24.5% from 38,992 in the year-ago period. Chief Financial Officer Eva Scherrer told analysts and investors during Daimler Truck’s May 6 quarterly earnings call that the results were the lowest Q1 results seen since 2010.
Daimler Truck said the weakness in Q1 sales was largely due to soft 2025 order intake as a result of the Trump administration’s introduction of tariffs and related market uncertainties.
Sales and orders were so weak last year that DTNA laid off 2,000 employees through July 2025 at five North American production sites: Mount Holly and Gastonia, NC; Detroit; Portland, Ore.; and Saltillo, Mexico.
However, with changes in the freight market, sales and orders are moving forward as 2026 progresses.
Omdia Automotive data shows industrywide sales increased as the second quarter progressed, with Class 8 sales in the U.S. rising 8.4% to 17,280 trucks in May from 15,941 in April.
Class 8 sales in the US fell 8% in May to 18,778 trucks in May 2025. A total of 73,419 Class 8 trucks were sold in the first five months of 2026, down 16% compared to sales of 87,447 in the same period 12 months earlier. Omdia data shows that May’s total sales were the 11th consecutive year-on-year decline.
Better results are expected for the third quarter of 2026, with ACT Research data released on July 3 showing June orders increased by more than 100% year-on-year for the fifth consecutive month. Preliminary ACT data shows North American Class 8 orders totaled 31,400 trucks in June, up 231% from the year-ago period. Orders increased for the seventh consecutive month year on year in June.
DTNA is the first major North American truck maker to report second quarter sales.
Globally, Daimler Trucks sold 86,707 vehicles in the most recent quarter, up 8% from 80,607 trucks and buses in the second quarter of 2025. Mercedes-Benz truck sales rose 10% year over year to 38,970 vehicles in the second quarter from 35,299 trucks in the year-ago period.
Daimler Trucks is scheduled to report full earnings for the second quarter on Aug. 7.
