Two industry giants are working together: Daimler Truck and Toyota want to cooperate in Asia. The final contracts are expected to be signed early next year.
The commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck wants to merge large parts of the difficult Asian business with its competitor Toyota. The Daimler truck subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus is to merge with the Toyota subsidiary Hino in a holding company, as both sides announced on Tuesday. The Dax group has not yet given any financial details, so far it has been a declaration of intent.
The joint project in Asia is intended to support the restructuring of the commercial vehicle business and promote the joint use of technologies. Hino will have access to Daimler Truck technology for heavy commercial vehicles. Toyota said the companies would also work together on the development of hydrogen drives and other future technologies.
The contracts are to be signed in the first quarter of 2024, and Daimler Truck expects a conclusion by the end of next year. “The planned new company will be a major player in Southeast Asia and an important partner in the Daimler Truck family,” said Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum. The announcement is a decisive step towards shaping the future economically.
The competition in Asia is fierce
“This collaboration between our four companies is a partnership to shape the future of commercial vehicles in Japan and the future of mobility society,” Toyota CEO Koji Sato said in a statement.
Daimler Truck has recently continued to feel the effects of strong competition in Asia. Last year, adjusted operating profit in the division fell by 60 percent, although sales and revenue increased. In 2022, Daimler Trucks sold 156,000 vehicles in the Asia division, compared to 187,000 in North America and 166,000 vehicles in the truck brand Mercedes-Benz, which is strong in Europe and Latin America. According to the plans, a strong improvement in profitability is not to be expected for this year either. The truck business in North America and Europe is far more lucrative for the Swabians.
Hino has problems too. The Japanese had to suspend the delivery of small trucks last year because employees had manipulated the measurement of emission values. The then Toyota boss Akio Toyoda publicly reprimanded the truck subsidiary, the world’s largest automobile company even threw Hino out of a joint venture of Japanese companies for the development of future technologies (CJPT).
The planned merger in Japan could also have an impact on the German Daimler truck rival Traton from the Volkswagen group. The Munich-based company has been running a joint venture with Hino for the development of electric drives since 2020, and they also work together in purchasing. Hino and Toyota did not provide any information on how to proceed with this cooperation.
Source: Stern
