For a long time it was a taboo subject, now there is a plan and the shareholders are asked: It’s about the dismantling of the car and truck giant Daimler. A historic step, they think in Stuttgart.
Separate paths for Mercedes cars and trucks: Daimler shareholders are called on Friday (10:00 a.m.) to approve the planned split of the Stuttgart group.
The aim is to separate the large truck and bus business of Daimler Truck from the group and to go public before Christmas as an independent company.
The extraordinary general meeting will take place online due to the corona restrictions. The majority of the shareholders are likely to agree to the step, which Daimler has classified as historic, it said before the meeting.
For a long time there has been a debate about releasing the truck business into entrepreneurial independence. This should allow Daimler Truck to develop better as the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer with over 100,000 employees. Experts also hope for more profits.
In view of the profound upheaval in the entire industry and billions in investments in electric vehicles, Daimler is now going down the path of division. The realignment with new companies will, according to reports, cost a three-digit million amount. In view of the increase in the value of the companies, however, this is justifiable, it was said in Stuttgart.
Daimler CEO Ola Källenius wants to explain the separation project with the code name “Focus” to the shareholders. The owners of Daimler should benefit from new shares in Daimler Truck – after all, professional investors expect that the two parts will be worth more separately on the stock exchange than together.
There should be questions at the special meeting on the future of the auto division. It is larger and more profitable than the truck and bus business. However, there are fears that the individually managed car business in the future could become more susceptible to takeover attempts. The division for cars and vans is to be run as Mercedes-Benz Group AG in the future. The name Daimler AG for the previous parent company will disappear completely at the beginning of next year.
“Trucks were always in the second row in the group,” said car expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer of the dpa. The winner of the split is the previous commercial vehicle division. The dynamism of Daimler Truck has been impressive for several months, the expert concluded. The challenges in the industry are great – the future topic of autonomous driving is even more important for the commercial vehicle sector than for passenger cars.
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
