Beijing, China, March 11th – Traton Group, one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle groups, today celebrated the 60-year commitment and development of its brands in China. At the Traton media gathering held in Beijing on March 11th, 2025, the group showcased key milestones of its continuous investment in China’s commercial vehicle industry.
Traton also explained how Scania’s production and R&D investments in China precisely align with the goals set by the just-concluded National Two Sessions and elaborated on the positive significance of these investments for enhancing the competitiveness of the group’s brands in China and globally.
Traton’s Brands Drive Industry Transformation
Traton Group continues to consolidate its industry position in a stable market environment. In 2024, the group achieved a strong performance of delivering 334,215 commercial vehicles, with sales revenue surging to 47.5 billion euros and an adjusted operating return on sales of 9.2%.
Over the past 60 years, Traton’s brands have been deeply involved in and have shaped the landscape of China’s modern commercial vehicle industry. Since 1965, the two brands, Scania and MAN, have been deeply rooted in the Chinese market, continuously driving industry transformation by introducing advanced products, technologies, and concepts.
Facing the accelerated transformation of the global commercial vehicle industry, Traton, together with its brands, leads the change with digital solutions, electrification strategies, autonomous driving technologies, and regional layouts. In 2024, the group established a research and development institution and developed the Traton Modular System (TMS) that serves all brands, taking an important step in key technological collaboration. Scania’s newly built industrial base and R&D center in China are becoming key supports for Traton’s global layout.
“The National Two Sessions reaffirmed the strategic directions of expanding high-level opening up, stabilizing foreign trade and investment, developing new forms of productive forces, and building a modern industrial system,” said Mats Harborn, the Chief Representative of Traton China Office. “The production and R&D investments of Traton Group’s brands, especially Scania in China, are not only positive practices in response to policy guidance but also play an active role in achieving these goals. At the same time, they will also enhance the group’s global competitiveness through innovation in the Chinese market.”
The Construction Progress of Scania’s Rugao Industrial Production Base
Scania’s Rugao industrial production base has reached a significant milestone. As the group’s most advanced and sustainable manufacturing center globally, the first prototype vehicle of this base has successfully rolled off the production line and started national road tests. It is expected to be officially put into production in the fourth quarter of 2025, marking the arrival of a new era of localized manufacturing with world-class quality and efficiency.
The industrial production base integrates cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, which can not only optimize the product delivery cycle but also provide customers with highly customized solutions.
As a carbon-neutral demonstration factory, the Rugao base implements Scania’s global sustainable development strategy. Its supply chain system that combines local adaptability and international standards, while ensuring efficient and sustainable production, effectively promotes the upgrading of the industry’s manufacturing level.
“As Scania’s most advanced and sustainable factory globally, the Rugao industrial production base will break through Scania’s production capacity bottleneck and inject new impetus into the global production system,” emphasized Ruthger de Vries, President of Scania’s Industrial Operations in Asia. “The commissioning of this benchmark factory will benefit both the Chinese and global markets simultaneously.”
Driving Global Innovation: Entrusted by the Group, Scania’s Asian R&D Center Empowers the Traton Modular System
Scania’s Asian R&D Center is building the group’s global competitiveness originating from China by integrating cutting-edge technologies in fields such as electrification, autonomous driving, and intelligent connected vehicles.
This R&D network covers Rugao, Shanghai, and Beijing, bringing together hundreds of Chinese and foreign engineers. The technical fields cover the entire chain, including the cab and chassis, powertrain, electrical and software, design and advanced engineering, testing and simulation, etc.
Relying on the global R&D network composed of 11,000 engineers of the Traton Group, this center has developed into an innovative center that integrates comprehensiveness and independence. Based on Scania’s mature modular system, Traton is creating the cross-brand universal “Traton Modular System (TMS)”.
“Local R&D allows us to put customers and application scenarios at the center of product development and deeply respond to the needs of the local market,” said Sonia Ederstål, Vice President of Scania’s Industrial Operations in Asia and Head of Scania’s R&D in Asia. “By integrating global experience with Chinese wisdom, we not only strengthen the foundation of our regional business but also promote Chinese innovative solutions to the world.”
At a crucial stage when the global truck industry is undergoing technological innovation, China is emerging as a source of innovation. Scania’s strategic investment in China has become an important fulcrum for Traton to maintain its leading position in the global industry.
