Harrie Schippers was elected President of DAF Trucks in 2010 and is Vice President of parent company PACCAR. Since he joined DAF Trucks in 1986, he has held financial positions in Operations, Marketing & Sales, Business Economics and as Group Controller. In 2003, Mr Schippers was appointed director of Finance and Member of the board of management.  

'The year 2012 will be challenging in light of the uncertain development of the economies in major markets around the world and in particular in Europe, where it is extremely important that confidence in the Eurozone be restored', said Schippers. “The European commercial vehicle industry strives to maintain its leadership in safety and environmental technologies, thereby contributing to sustainable growth in Europe and abroad. We need a stable environment to underpin our long-term investment strategies.'

A main priority for the commercial vehicle manufacturers remains the further improvement of fuel and energy efficiency in order to contribute to global CO2 emission reduction objectives. The industry, in particular, supports the European Commission’s efforts in establishing an accurate methodology for measuring full-vehicle CO2 emissions to underpin subsequent reduction policy tools. The European commercial vehicle manufacturers have cut the fuel consumption of their products by more than a third since the 1970s and committed to a further 20% improvement in fuel efficiency by 2020 (compared to 2005 levels) despite the reverse pressure on fuel economy caused by parallel steps to reduce pollutant emissions. 

The commercial vehicle industry is an important part of the European automobile industry and currently employs about 1.5m people directly and indirectly in Europe. The members of the ACEA Commercial Vehicle Board are Daimler Trucks, DAF Trucks, IVECO S.p.A., MAN Truck & Bus, Scania, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Volvo Group. They produce in over ten EU countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland and the Czech Republic.