Combustion road vehicles: Value chain
From refinery and CNG pump to the world's big carmakers
From refinery and CNG pump to the world's big carmakers What this tab covers Who does what, from equipment makers to builders, owners, operators, traders and users, with the leading companies at each step.Oil refiners and gas distributors supply the fuel; carmakers and engine makers build the vehicles; fleets and households run them. Most new cars sold worldwide still have combustion engines.
The chain
Fuel supply Engine makers (heavy duty) Vehicle makers (cars and light vehicles) Truck and bus makers Operators and users| Stage | What happens | Leading companies |
|---|---|---|
| Fuel supply | Refineries make petrol and diesel; city gas companies compress natural gas for CNG stations (India had 7,395 CNG stations at end-November 2024, up from 6,861 in March 2024). | 12 |
| Engine makers (heavy duty) | Design and build diesel and gas engines for trucks, buses and machines, often supplying several truck brands. | Cummins (United States) Weichai Power (China)56 |
| Vehicle makers (cars and light vehicles) | The largest car groups by 2025 sales, most of whose output still uses engines. | Toyota (Japan) 11.32 million Volkswagen (Germany) 8.98 million Hyundai (South Korea) 7.27 million GM (United States) 6.18 million Stellantis (Netherlands) 5.48 million11 |
| Truck and bus makers | Build heavy vehicles, mostly diesel. Electric trucks were 9% of global truck sales in 2025 and one in four in China. Volumes are company-reported 2025 sales. | Daimler Truck (Germany) 422,510 trucks and buses Traton (Germany) about 305,500 vehicles Volvo Group (Sweden) 202,911 trucks PACCAR (United States) 144,200 trucks Dongfeng Commercial Vehicles (China, Volvo joint venture) 127,632 trucks VE Commercial Vehicles (India, Volvo-Eicher joint venture) 75,556 vehicles1019202122 |
| Operators and users | Households, logistics fleets and bus operators. For EU trucks, operating costs make up more than 60-80% of total cost of ownership on average, for all powertrains. | 13 |
The car ranking (source 11) is a press compilation of company reports. Chinese truck makers such as FAW Jiefang and Sinotruk report in formats that were not checked here, so the truck list is not a complete world ranking. The IEA puts electric cars at about a quarter of 2025 new car sales (source 10), so about three quarters of new cars have no plug (calculated); counting plug-in hybrids, which also carry an engine, over 80% of new cars still have one (calculated: 75% plus about 35% of 25%).
Sources
- Weichai unveils diesel engine with 53.09% thermal efficiency DieselNet, 2024
- SuperTruck II team reaches brake thermal efficiency goal Heavy Duty Trucking (truckinginfo.com), 2021
- Global EV Outlook 2026: Executive summary IEA, 2026
- Three Chinese automakers enter global top 10 as 2025 sales rankings finalized (press compilation of company reports) CarNewsChina, 2026
- Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1420: CNG stations and CNG vehicle registrations (Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas reply) Government of India, Lok Sabha, 2025
- Alternative vs traditional powertrain trucks in the EU: total cost of ownership 2024 (preview) IRU, 2026
- Daimler Truck unit sales 2025: 422,510 units Daimler Truck, 2026
- TRATON GROUP records total unit sales of around 305,500 vehicles in 2025 in a weak market environment TRATON, 2026
- Volvo Group report on the fourth quarter and full year 2025 AB Volvo, 2026
- PACCAR achieves very good annual revenues and net income PACCAR (Business Wire), 2026