Transport: growing fleets; Chinese firms set to expand in the EU market
Bain & Company survey of 500 operators – 60 per cent are willing to invest in new vehicles; in Italia, the figure stands at 70 per cent, with one in three considering electric vehicles
The ‘conquest’ of the lorry market by Chinese players has not yet begun, but operators, in at least one in three cases, have already had dealings with Asian manufacturers, and the medium-sized vehicle segment – alongside electric powertrains – could act as a battering ram for Chinese manufacturers in the European market.
This is revealed in a study carried out by Bain & Company involving over 500 fleet operators in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Poland and Italia. The sector remains optimistic about growth and appears open to change. In Italia in particular, over 71 per cent of operators expect their vehicle fleets to expand.
Looking at powertrains, industry players expect a significant shift in the composition of medium and heavy goods vehicle fleets between 2030 and 2035. In Italia, diesel remains the dominant fuel in the short term, cited by almost half of respondents; however, in the medium term, electric vehicles are gradually gaining ground, expected to reach a 32 per cent share by 2035, broadly in line with diesel at 31 per cent.
According to the European Truck Market Outlook 2026, the outlook among fleet operators is largely positive: 60 per cent expect their fleets to grow over the next three years, whilst less than 10 per cent anticipate a reduction, with Italia topping the rankings, likely due to the higher average age of vehicles on the road. At the same time, the sector’s average Net Promoter Score – an indicator that generally measures brand loyalty – has fallen by 21 points compared with 2022.
Volvo, Scania and Mercedes-Benz are the leaders in NPS, but their rankings vary by country and customer segment. On average: brands generally achieve around 20 NPS points more in their home markets than in export markets.
