Japan’s truck sector on slow but steady trajectory

In May 2017, Daimler Trucks announced plans for a new push in the Japanese truck market, centred on its heavy-duty Fuso Super Great. The push may seem odd, given that the Japanese truck market peaked way back in 1973, when annual sales topped 209,000 units. The pre-crisis year of 2006 came close to that peak, but since then truck sales have been either volatile or lacklustre in growth – just 0.4% in 2016. Yet Daimler's investment points to the continuing international importance of the Japanese market, at least to those players who can command a sizeable market share there.