Industry and workers call for urgent action to safeguard Europe's commercial vehicle sector

Brussels, 27 May 2026 - Corporate leaders and workforce representatives from Europe's truck and bus manufacturers have jointly written to the European Commission to raise the alarm over deteriorating competitiveness in the commercial vehicle sector, warning that without urgent and coordinated action, Europe risks losing production capacity, innovation capability, and industrial jobs.

The signatories acknowledge that while the European commercial vehicle industry holds leading market and technology positions globally, that leadership is far from guaranteed. Intensifying competition from regions operating under different cost structures, regulatory frameworks, and coordinated industrial strategies is placing unprecedented pressure on manufacturers, suppliers, and workers. The industry remains fully committed to Europe's climate ambitions, as evidenced by the wide range of zero-emission heavy-duty trucks and buses already on the market. However, their uptake remains constrained by the slow rollout of dedicated public and depot charging infrastructure, insufficient hydrogen refuelling infrastructure, and the lack of robust business cases for many transport operators who want to invest in the new powertrain vehicles.

Against this backdrop, the letter calls for action on three fronts.

• First, an advance of the review of the CO2 regulation for heavy-duty vehicles to assess the coherence between its ambition level and actual market conditions as the current framework risks disproportionately increasing costs and accelerating deindustrialisation without delivering a faster transition.
• Second, accelerated deployment of charging and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure with binding milestones at EU and Member State level, reinforced through the upcoming AFIR revision, supportive policies and investment incentive schemes to close the total cost of ownership gap for fleet operators.
• Third, a coherent European industrial strategy for the commercial road transport sector in which competitiveness, decarbonisation, and high-quality employment are pursued together.

The signatories request an open dialogue with the European Commission and Member States on concrete steps, reaffirming their readiness to work on solutions that combine economic strength, technological leadership, and social responsibility.

You can consult the full letter by clicking on the button below.

About ACEA

• The European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) represents the 17 major Europe-based car, van, truck and bus makers
• The ACEA commercial vehicle members are DAF Trucks NV, Daimler Truck, Ford Trucks, IVECO Group, TRATON GROUP (MAN Truck & Bus SE, Scania Group), and Volvo Group
• Visit www.acea.auto for more information about ACEA, and follow us on www.twitter.com/ACEA_auto or www.linkedin.com/company/ACEA/

Contact:

• Camille Lamarque, Media Relations Manager, [email protected], +32 2 738 73 16

About the EU automobile industry

• 13.6 million Europeans work in the automotive sector
• 8.1% of all manufacturing jobs in the EU
• €414.7 billion in tax revenue for European governments
• €93.9 billion trade surplus for the European Union
• Over 8% of EU GDP generated by the auto industry
• €84.6 billion in R&D spending annually, 34% of EU total