China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has won the "world number one"!
In 2025, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Corporation (Sinotruk) achieved the world's top performance in heavy truck production and sales, and dropped a "deep water bomb" that shocked the industry. And what supports this global peak position is the solid foundation that has firmly held the "top spot" in China's heavy-duty truck exports for 21 consecutive years.
Some people may say that scale does not necessarily mean strength, and for China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, simple "yes" or "no" is not accurate enough. What the author sees is that currently, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has surpassed the stage of "big but not strong" and is in a rapid leap period of "both big and strong", and has made decisive progress. Although China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has not yet fully achieved the comprehensive dominance of world-class brands, it is only a matter of time.
Why did the author make such a judgment?
1、 The 'big' of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group is itself a 'strong'
From January to September 2025, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group (Sinotruk) submitted a remarkable performance report:
111000 heavy-duty trucks were exported, a year-on-year increase of 24.5%.
In September, the monthly export exceeded 15000 vehicles, setting a new record for the monthly export of China's heavy-duty truck industry.
The annual export target is 150000 vehicles, which is five times that of 2020.
Over one million China National Heavy Duty Truck Group (Sinotruk) heavy-duty trucks are operating in more than 150 countries and regions worldwide.
It is not by chance that China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has been leading the overseas market for 21 consecutive years.
Firstly, what I see is that China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's "greatness" is a reflection of its strength, not just a digital game. Behind the world's top heavy truck production and sales volume, and China's top export for 21 consecutive years, there is a total revenue of 22.89 billion US dollars and explosive growth in the entire range of products (new energy vehicles increased by 300%, light truck exports increased by 140%, and mining trucks increased by 35%). This proves that its scale is diversified and resilient, rather than relying on a single product or market.
And China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's "big" is built on the basis of covering more than 150 countries around the world and having millions of vehicles in the market. Without strong product reliability, cost control, and supply chain capabilities, it is impossible to support such a massive scale.
Secondly, it is the systematic layout of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group. Its' greatness' is not only reflected in sales, but also in its global network of 30 KD factories, 44 representative offices, and over 300 distributors. This is a system built on heavy assets and long cycles, with strong supply of accessories and fast after-sales service, forming a brand trust of "buy with peace of mind and use with peace of mind", which is a hard power that many newcomers cannot establish in the short term.
The 'value war' requires comprehensive support: the premise of avoiding price wars is that China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has powerful services, accessories, and brand guarantees that can make customers ignore price differences. This system is the deepest moat of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group.
Therefore, the success of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group is a victory of long termism over short termism, and a victory of system capability over single point advantage.
So, the author believes that the "big" of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group is a "big" with quality and systematic support, which itself is a kind of "strong".
Moreover, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group is not just "leading in sales", it is transforming its "size" (scale, network, share) into a platform and springboard towards "strength".
2、 China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's' Powerful Core '
At the Global Partner Conference, Liu Zhengtao, Chairman of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group, and Liu Wei, General Manager, have clearly outlined its "strong" core.
At the conference, Liu Zhengtao proposed that China National Heavy Duty Truck Group (Sinotruk) should provide "commercial vehicle solutions with the highest technological content, brand value, and return on investment" to the global market. This marks that the competitive logic of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has completely shifted from price wars to providing value gains throughout the entire lifecycle for global customers.
Standing at a new starting point of being the world's number one, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has outlined a clear future route map, with the core being the deep internationalization of "full value chain win-win".
By 2030, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group plans to export 250000 heavy trucks, 100000 light trucks, 50000 light vehicles, and 3000 mining trucks. The overseas aftermarket revenue target is 1 billion US dollars.
To achieve this goal, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has planned three major strategic upgrade paths and a dual brand value strategy:
1. Product upgrade:In the next five years, we will invest over 4 billion US dollars in research and development, establish an 8000 person R&D team, and set up a dedicated overseas product R&D institution to tackle new energy (pure electric, hydrogen, hybrid) and intelligent driving technologies. This investment and talent scale are the determination to benchmark against world-class technology enterprises and the fundamental guarantee for "technological strength". Liu Wei mentioned that "in the core three electric system, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has mastered multiple breakthrough key technologies", indicating its transformation from a technology follower to a rule maker in specific fields.
2. Lifecycle Upgrade:The future of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group is not just about selling cars. It is also promoting the transformation from "selling cars" to providing "full lifecycle solutions" globally, focusing on aftermarket businesses such as second-hand cars, fleet management, and financial leasing, competing for the richest profit pool in the global commercial vehicle industry, and exploring new blue oceans of value. According to Liu Wei, in the next five years, the overseas ownership of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's heavy-duty trucks is expected to exceed 2 million units. The huge ownership will inevitably drive the development of service and parts businesses, which is a global opportunity worth over 10 billion US dollars.
3. Marketing system upgrade:By 2030, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group aims to expand its overseas distribution channels to 400, increase its international marketing personnel to 2000, and continue to expand its KD factory, with an annual production capacity of 100000 vehicles.
4. Dual brand strategy leads value
HOWO consolidates its positioning of "high cost-effectiveness, high quality" and becomes one of the most trusted brands in the world. SITRAK benchmarks high-end European and American brands, achieves value breakthroughs, and faces the core battlefield of brand premium.
Song Yang, General Manager of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group International Co., Ltd., pointed out that China National Heavy Duty Truck Group relies on three major tools: service, network, and localization, and "no longer needs to focus on price wars". This indicates that China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's core competitiveness in overseas markets has shifted from a single product price to the ability to provide customers with "full lifecycle operational value". This is a game rule that only the strong can choose.
Media Eye Observation: China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's Next Step
It can be said that the "strength" of China National Heavy Duty Truck Group is no longer a potential future, but a reality that is happening. China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has demonstrated strong capabilities in terms of scale, system, application of new energy technologies, and specific market value competition.
Whether it is the global cooperation concept of "We are One" or the Chinese win-win wisdom of "small rivers have water, big rivers are full", China National Heavy Duty Truck Group's core direction for the next five years is to build a "full value chain win-win" ecosystem, achieving the same premium as world-class brands and the same level of global top technology definition rights.
The next step for China National Heavy Duty Truck Group is not only related to its century old corporate dream, but also will affect the overall positioning and imagination of Chinese commercial vehicle brands in the global market.
Information source: Truck Information Network
