Sustainability in the Heavy Truck Industry: A Competitive Benchmarking Study of Sustainability Strategies and Technologies

Abstract

The truck industry is undergoing a sustainability transition driven by regulatory pressure, technological development, and changing market conditions. At the same time, geopolitical uncertainty and evolving regulations create challenges for long-term strategic planning and technology investment. Against this background, the study aims to analyse how leading actors in the truck industry integrate sustainability goals and which technological and operational approaches are applied, in order to evaluate Volvo Group’s position relative to its competitors. The study also examines how future geopolitical developments and regulatory changes may influence the industry’s continued evolution. The research is based on benchmarking of leading companies, a weighted scoring model, and scenario planning to provide recommendations for Volvo Group regarding future strategic directions. The results show that sustainability has become a strategically embedded core issue across all studied companies, with regulatory requirements remaining the main driving force. The analysis indicates that Scope 3 emissions represent the most significant source of climate impact, leading OEMs to increasingly focus on alternative powertrains, predictive maintenance, and optimisation of existing diesel-based solutions. At the same time, circularity and material efficiency emerge as strategically important but still underdeveloped areas. Scenario planning highlights that the interaction between regulatory frameworks and geopolitical stability strongly influences technology choices, investment decisions, and supply chain configurations. Stricter regulation accelerates electrification, while geopolitical uncertainty increases the need for resilience and flexibility. For Volvo Group, key development areas include service-based offerings, improved maintenance solutions, increased modularisation of components, and reduced energy consumption and waste in painting processes. Overall, the study shows that the transformation of the truck industry is gradual and uncertain, where strategic execution capabilities and external structural factors jointly shape future development.