EU truck makers call for a delay to CO₂ emission standards

14 September 2026

At the IAA Transportation in Hanover, the CEOs of Europe’s seven leading truck and bus manufacturers warned that Europe’s shift to zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles is held back by an “alarming delay” in the conditions that are needed to drive market uptake. They called on European and national policymakers to urgently close the gap and to delay the 2030 CO₂ compliance timeline by three years.

While European truck and bus manufacturers have launched several zero-emission vehicle models, the conditions that transport operators need to adopt these vehicles at scale and operate them competitively are not developing fast enough, according to the CEOs. The executives participating in the event represented DAF Trucks, Daimler Truck, Ford Otosan, Iveco Group, MAN Truck & Bus, Scania Group, and Volvo Group.

Just 2.4% of new heavy-duty truck registrations in Europe are zero-emission today, according to ACEA. However, in major truck markets such as Poland, Spain and Italy, the share is still well below 1%. Even in Germany and France, Europe’s two largest truck markets, it stands at only 4.3% and 2.4%. With only 45 months remaining until the 2030 CO₂ targets apply, the gap between current market uptake and the pace of transition towards 2030 remains substantial. Closing this gap requires zero-emission trucks to make economic sense for transport operators and that depends on charging and grid access, energy costs, CO₂-based road tolls and a coherent supportive policy framework.

Karin Rådström, President and CEO of Daimler Truck and Chair of ACEA’s Commercial Vehicle Board said: “We are fully committed to sustainable transport—the investments have been made, and a wide range of CO₂-free vehicles is available today. But making them commercially viable at scale also depends on the wider ecosystem that is clearly delayed and not yet developing fast enough. This means two things: doubling down on the enabling conditions fast, and for the EU to delay the 2030 compliance timeline by three years, to prevent penalties for manufacturers.”

Manufacturers face crippling financial penalties if their new fleets fail to meet the CO₂ targets. Their compliance, however, depends on decisions made across the wider value chain, ACEA noted in a press release.

Manufacturers have to reduce the CO₂ emissions of new vehicles by -43% (2030), -64% (2035) and -90% (2040). If manufacturers fail to do that, they face penalties of 4.250 EUR per g/CO₂ per vehicle. According to ACEA estimates, missing the 2030 target by just three percentage points would lead to approximately €2.2 billion in penalties.

According to truck manufacturers, the list of enabling conditions that need a substantial improvement includes:

• Accelerating the deployment of dedicated charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure for heavy-duty vehicles. Fewer than 2,000 public chargers suitable for trucks are available across Europe today, while at least 700 additional truck chargers are needed every month. Fewer than a dozen hydrogen refueling stations are operational and even these face major operational constraints.
• Speeding up grid connections for depot and public charging infrastructure. Connecting new charging sites to the power grid can take several years, delaying deployment even where operators and infrastructure providers are ready to invest.
• Putting in place a coherent policy framework that supports the business case for zero-emission trucks across all member states. CO₂-based road charging is effectively in place in only four member states, while necessary changes to Weights & Dimensions rules needed to address the payload disadvantage of zero-emission trucks have still not been adopted.
• Ensuring that energy and carbon-pricing policies support the transition. The introduction of the ETS2 has been delayed to 2028, while energy costs remain a critical factor in whether zero-emission trucks can be operated competitively. Revenues from ETS2 and road charging should be reinvested to support infrastructure and vehicle uptake.

Source: ACEA