Traton lifts low end of outlook amid growing US truck orders, shares hit record

By Simon Ferdinand Eibach and Emanuele Berro

July 23 (Reuters) - Volkswagen's truck unit Traton raised the lower end of its 2026 growth outlook on Thursday, after a 141% uptick in U.S. orders drove up its half-year order intake.

The truckmaker's shares jumped more than 8% to an all-time high of €39.56 per share by 0816 GMT.

Traton now expects its sales revenue to be at least flat or grow by up to 7% this year, instead of the previously given range of -5% to +7%. It also hiked its full-year forecast for operating return on sales to between 6.3% and 7.3%, from 5.3% to 7.3% previously.

Its overall order intake grew 30% from a year ago to 181,900 vehicles, as pent-up demand caused by market uncertainty led to soaring orders in the United States in the first half of 2026.

Analysts from Jefferies and JPMorgan also highlighted a catch-up effect of €120 million ($137 million) from U.S. tariff refunds at Traton's American subsidiary International Motors.

In February, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that import duties imposed last year by President Donald Trump using an economic emergency law were illegal, enabling affected companies to seek refunds, though a 25% tariff on heavy trucks, issued under a different law, remains in place.

In a conference call, Chief Financial Officer Michael Jackstein said Traton was considering installing a second shift of workers at its plant in San Antonio, marking a potential shift in labour allocation to the U.S.

Traton supplies the U.S. market mainly through its Mexican sites, covered by the USMCA free trade agreement. However, the non-U.S. content of those imports is still subject to the 25% tariff.

In Europe, half-year order intake grew 10%, though orders from Germany lagged behind other countries, as the German fiscal stimulus and higher defence spending did not translate into order gains.

But despite evidence that the stimulus had failed to trickle down, CEO Christian Levin said he remained optimistic about a delayed positive impact.

($1 = €0.8754)

(Reporting by Simon Ferdinand Eibach and Emanuele Berro in Gdansk; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)