Thanks to a historically high market share of 16.6%, DAF has grown to be Europe's second largest brand in the heavy truck (16+ tonnes) segment.

Meanwhile, it is the European market leader in the important tractor-unit segment, with a market share of no less than 19.8%.

The European market for trucks of 16+ tonnes amounted to almost 319,000 trucks in 2018 compared to 306,000 in 2017.

"The European economy has been very strong over the past year. This resulted in a high demand for transportation with a corresponding requirement for trucks", says Harry Wolters, president of DAF Trucks.

As in previous years, DAF was the market leader in the heavy segment in 2018 in the Netherlands (32%), the United Kingdom (26.5%), Poland (23.2%) and Hungary (32.6%).

The Dutch truck manufacturer was also the market leader in Belgium (22.1%), Bulgaria (19.9%) and the Czech Republic (19.5%). In Germany, DAF was once again the largest import brand, with a market share of 12.3%.

The total European market for light trucks (6–16 tonnes) decreased slightly from 52,500 units in 2017 to just under 52,000 in 2018. DAF held a 9% market share in this segment.

DAF is the market leader in the light trucks class in both the United Kingdom (32.0%) and in Ireland (18.2%).

Furthermore, it sold 8,700 trucks outside the European Union. Market share grew in Israel, Belarus and South Africa and DAF achieved record sales in Indonesia.

The DAF CF vehicle began local assembly at the PACCAR Australia factory. DAF sold over 3,500 PACCAR engines to leading manufacturers of coaches, buses and special vehicles as well as expanding engine sales into Singapore and Myanmar.

Richard Zink, member of the Board of Management with responsibility for marketing and sales, said: "The market places great value on the reliability, low operating costs and high levels of driver comfort of our trucks. This means that we have been able to bring a lot of new customers on board over the last year—from small businesses to large international fleets—thereby increasing our market share from 15.3% to 16.6%.

“We are extremely proud of the fact that DAF is the European market leader in tractor units, a position which we are also aspiring to achieve with our comprehensive range of rigids and vocational trucks. Because we have the perfect solution for every transport requirement."

To meet the high demand for its trucks, DAF produced a record number of more than 67,000 light, medium and heavy trucks in 2018, an increase of 10.1% compared to the previous year.

DAF estimates that the market for heavy trucks will be strong again in 2019, at a volume of between 290,000 and 320,000 units.