Karin Rådström is steering Daimler Truck in a new direction as the world’s biggest truckmaker faces a growing challenge from China

Karin Rådström is used to being the only woman in the room. She was the first to lead Scania’s bus and coach division, having worked her way through the ranks from marketing trainee to head of sales and marketing and executive vice president at the Swedish truck manufacturer.

Now, as CEO of Daimler Truck, she heads up the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles. Rådström became only the second woman to lead a company in the DAX 40 upon her appointment in 2024 and is one of only 43 women CEOs in the Fortune 500 Europe. “I try to use that as a positive motivation more than a heavy burden,” she says. “The best way to increase the number of leadership opportunities for women is, of course, to be successful.”

Since Rådström became CEO, Daimler Truck’s share price has increased almost 40%, from €33.15 to €46.24, and she has overseen significant growth in the company’s zero-­ emissions vehicle sales, which rose 67% in 2025. But this success has not come easily. Rådström reels off a lengthy list of headwinds: supply-chain challenges, semiconductor shortages, the war in Ukraine, geopolitical issues, and tariffs in the U.S. “It’s been kind of a ride,” she says.

Despite only recently becoming an independent business (formed out of the split of Daimler AG into Mercedes-Benz and Daimler Truck in 2021), Daimler Truck has over a century of history. This year marks 130 years since German engineer Gottlieb Daimler built the very first motorized truck, basing his design on a horse-drawn carriage.

Rådström, a Swede, was surprised by the layers of hierarchy at the German company and the sheer volume of decisions that crossed her desk as CEO. In one of her first meetings, she was asked to look at the designs for a new truck cab and formally approve it. Important decisions were often accompanied by a lengthy slide deck. “Those things don’t work in the changing environment that we have now,” she says.

72Daimler truck’s rank on fortune 500 europe

Rådström has called on the company to operate “simpler, faster, and stronger.” This mantra, which encourages quicker decision-making and greater autonomy, has been central to the cultural transformation that she has spearheaded since becoming CEO. “You never have 100% of the information you’d like,” she says, “so if you don’t decide, you might miss big opportunities.”

Those familiar with Rådström’s leadership style describe her as authentic, strategic, and inclusive. One friend, Charlotte Berg, a consult service director for IT company Kyndryl, first met Rådström at a professional development program run by the Stockholm-based Women for Leaders, and Rådström suggested that they go for a run together.........

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