Volkswagen’s truck unit Traton plans to increase profitability by 2029

Volkswagen's truck unit Traton set out five-year targets during its Capital Markets Day on Tuesday, as it expects to benefit from the shift towards electrification and plans to raise the share of battery electric vehicles in its sales.

European truckmakers need to increase the share of electric trucks in their sales by 50% to meet the European Union's carbon emissions reduction targets by 2030 or face stiff fines.

"Our brands have future-proofed their product portfolio by investing in the electrification of commercial vehicles," Traton's CEO Christian Levin said in a statement.

Truckmakers have called for a faster build-up of charging stations in Europe in an appeal to governments to provide the infrastructure necessary to make e-trucks profitable.

The group sees its return on sales rising to 9-11% by 2029 from the current 8-9% and anticipates revenue to grow by 20-40% over the next five years.

The company, which owns the Scania, MAN, and Volkswagen Trucks and Buses brands, also plans to fully repay its debt over the period.

In addition, it intends to increase its market share in North America, a key sales driver for the truckmaker, and manage its business there more effectively, starting with the renaming of its US unit Navistar to International Motors as of Tuesday.