If you happen to spot Maretha Gerber, President & Group CEO for Daimler Truck Southern Africa – which includes the Fuso brand in its stable – and Anton Falck, Vice President of Hino South Africa chatting amicably over their café lattes at the local Mugg & Bean, it’s OK. It’s all good. You see, they are now on the same side; Fuso and Hino are no longer competitors writes Patrick O’Leary.
Yep, it’s happened. In a major announcement made on Tuesday, June 10th, a new giant in the commercial vehicle arena is being formed in Japan via the planned merger of Hino Motors Company, the commercial vehicle arm of Toyota Motor Corporation, and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation in Japan, a division of Daimler Truck AG.
The intention of these two companies to merge was originally mooted about two years ago but it was then put on hold for various reasons. Now, however, it’s solid that Daimler Truck, Mitsubishi Fuso, Hino and Toyota Motor Corporation have concluded “definitive agreements’ to integrate Mitsubishi Fuso and Hino Motors as a new Japanese truck powerhouse.
There’s still a way to go as the deal must get the approval of the Anti-Trust and Merger authorities as well as relevant boards and shareholders but it’s almost certain that this will be given. After all, you don’t get the heads of four major companies making a major global announcement like this is they weren’t pretty sure of it being given the thumbs up.
Once those thumbs are pointing skywards, the plan going forward is to establish a jointly owned holding company – the name still to be decided – with Daimler Truck and Toyota each owning 25% of that holding company. The company will be listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange and the aim is to have the new listed holding company start operations in April 2026. Karl Deppen, the current president and CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso, will head the company as CDO.
Taking all those moving parts out the way, the bottom line is that Mitsubishi Fuso and Hino will integrate on an equal footing. The new combined company will have 40 000 employees with the scale, resources and technology leadership to – check this out – “shape the future of the commercial vehicle landscape in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.”
By integrating Mitsubishi Fuso and Hino Motors, the companies aim to improve economic efficiency in areas such as commercial vehicle development, procurement and production. They expect this to significantly increase the competitiveness of Japanese commercial vehicle manufacturers and strengthen the foundation of the automotive industry in Japan and Asia.
The new holding company is intended to contribute to customers, various stakeholders and the automotive industry by contributing to solution finding in areas such as CO2 neutrality and logistics efficiency in commercial vehicles and it aims to realize a sustainable and prosperous mobility society through the development of CASE technologies (“Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric”), including hydrogen and to strengthen the commercial vehicle business globally.
Commenting on this development Karin Rådström, CEO, Daimler Truck says: “The integration of Mitsubishi Fuso and Hino Motors that has now been decided is truly historic. We are bringing two strong partners together to form an even stronger company and successfully shape the decarbonization of transport. Together, Mitsubishi Fuso and Hino Motors have great potential to harness economies of scale – and economies of scale are key to success in the technological transformation of our industry.”
Koji Sato, CEO, Toyota said: “We believe that we have to shape the future together. Today’s final agreement is not the goal but the starting point. Our four companies, which are striving for a sustainable mobility society, will continue to shape the future of commercial vehicles together.”
Karl Deppen, CEO, Mitsubishi Fuso and designated CEO of the new holding company: “Today is a great day for all our stakeholders. We shape the industry by pooling our strengths. With a strong new company, we are combining our two proven brands, resources, competencies and expertise to better support our customers with their transportation needs in the future. I am honored and excited to be the designated CEO of the new company and grateful for the trust and support of Toyota and Daimler Truck in making this possible.”
Satoshi Ogiso, CEO, Hino: “The collaboration between the four companies is a truly “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” In addition to operational synergies, we can expect immeasurable synergies resulting from the synthesis of our different cultures. With our common goal, we are confident in building a strong and resilient team that supports each other and contributes to society. As a new commercial vehicle company rooted in Japan, we are working together to build an ever-brighter future.”
It all makes a lot of sense. By taking a collaborative and strategic approach, the two companies can more effectively invest in decarbonisation technologies while managing the inherent risks of long-term capital investments. The development of CASE technologies requires huge investments in R&D and that is where the future needs to be going in the commercial vehicle industry if we are to secure a bright future for the world.
On our local front, don’t expect to see any operational or product changes in the near future. Hino will remain Hino with its own dealerships as will Fuso. The only question to ask is: Who is going to pay for the café lattes when Maretha Gerber and Anton Falck meet? Based on the above, my guess is that it will be a shared bill.
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