Traton Group brand Scania has seen its first prototype trucks from its new manufacturing and engineering base in China roll off the production line at its all new plant in Beijing on 11th March.
Scania’s new Rugao industrial production base is the Traton group’s most advanced and sustainable manufacturing centre globally reached the significant milestone. as the first prototype truck successfully rolled off the production line and started road tests in China.
Scania says the new trucks are expected to be officially put into production in the fourth quarter of 2025, marking the arrival of a new era of localised manufacturing for the company which is claiming world-class quality and efficiency.
Scania said the production base integrates cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, which optimise the product delivery cycle and also provides customers with highly customised solutions.
Speculation that the new Chinese manufacturing facility may also become the source for other export markets, including Australia, appears to be unfounded, given the main focus will be to serve the huge and still burgeoning Chinese market. We understand the new factory is also geared to manufacturing left hand drive product, all but ruling out Chinese built Scania’s being sold here.
The company said that the new Rugao plant implements Scania’s global sustainable development strategy and is a carbon-neutral demonstration factory. Scania claims its supply chain system combines local adaptability and international standards, while ensuring efficient and sustainable production.
President of Scania’s Industrial Operations in Asia, Ruthger de Vries, claims the Rugao production facility will enable the company to break through its production capacity bottleneck and inject new impetus into its global production system.
“The commissioning of this benchmark factory will benefit both the Chinese and global markets simultaneously,” said de Vries
Traton told the gathering in Beijing that the facility showcased key milestones for its continuous investment in China’s commercial vehicle industry.
Traton also explained how Scania’s production and R&D investments in China align with the goals it has set and that the positive significance of the investments for enhancing its competitiveness of its brands in China and globally.
Traton Group said it continues to consolidate its industry position in a stable market environment and emphasised that in 2024, the group achieved a milestone performance of delivering 334,215 commercial vehicles, with sales revenue surging to $AUD 81.8 billion (€47.5 billion euros) and an adjusted operating return on sales of 9.2 per cent.
Traton claims that over the past 60 years, its brands have been deeply involved in and have shaped the landscape of China’s modern commercial vehicle industry.
Traton said that its two key brands, Scania and MAN, since 1965 have the been deeply rooted in the Chinese market, continuously driving industry transformation by introducing advanced products, technologies, and concepts.
Traton and its brands said that it has been faced with the accelerated transformation of the global commercial vehicle industry, and that it claims to lead the change with digital solutions, electrification strategies, autonomous driving technologies, and regional layouts.
The group said that it established a research and development institution in 2024, and developed the Traton Modular System (TMS) that it says serves all brands, and takes an important step in key technological collaboration.
Mats Harborn, the chief representative of Traton’s China Office, said Scania’s new production base and R&D centre in China is becoming a key support 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 Harborn.
“Traton Group’s production and R&D investments, especially by Scania in China, are not only positive practices in response to policy guidance but also play an active role in achieving these goals,” he said.
“At the same time, they will also enhance the group’s global competitiveness through innovation in the Chinese market,” Harborn concluded.
Scania says its Asian R&D Center in China is building the group’s global competitiveness by integrating cutting-edge technologies in fields such as electrification, autonomous driving, and intelligent connected vehicles.
The company said that the R&D network covers Rugao, Shanghai, and Beijing, and brings 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.
It said that the new centre relies on Traton’s global R&D network, which comprises 11,000 engineers , and has developed into an innovative centre that integrates comprehensiveness and independence, based on Scania’s mature modular system,
Traton added that it is also creating the cross-brand universal “Traton Modular System (TMS)”.
Vice president of Scania’s Industrial Operations in Asia and head of Scania’s R&D in Asia, Sonia Ederstål said that local R&D allows the company to put customers and application scenarios at the centre of product development and deeply respond to the needs of the local market.
“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,” Ederstål said.
Traton said that at a crucial stage when the global truck industry is undergoing technological innovation, China is emerging as a source of innovation. and that Scania’s strategic investment in China has become an important fulcrum for it to maintain its leading position in the global industry.
