Currently under the umbrella of Daimler luxury cars and Mercedes-brand heavy vehicles coexist. However, by the end of the year, the structure of the German group is destined to change: Daimler, in fact, will take the name of Mercedes-Benzbut not before having spun off the business activities of the division Truck.
This is the largest strategic-financial maneuver of the CEO Ola Kallenius, in command of the Stuttgart giant for almost two years. A spin-off that has long been advocated by investors in order to create value. But, for the separation order to become enforceable, an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting is expected, which could be held at the end of the third quarter of the year, with the aim of arriving on the Frankfurt stock exchange by the end of 2021.
This move represents the beginning of a “profound reshaping of society “, Kallenius explained in a statement released to the media: “Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans and Daimler Trucks & Buses are different businesses with specific customer groups, technology paths and capital needs. In this context, we believe that these two realities will be able to operate as effectively as independent entities, with strong net liquidity and free from the constraints of a conglomerate structure “.
The data from Volvo – which in common with Mercedes has the majority shareholder, the Chinese of the Geely group -, which expects growth for the global truck market. According to the Scandinavian brand, the transport and construction business has recovered in most markets, which would improve customer confidence.
Therefore in Gothenburg they increased their forecasts for heavy vehicle sales in Europe and North America. And from Volvo Trucks Germans have a lot to learn, as the operating margin of Swedish friends / rivals is nearly 13%, “the highest the company has ever achieved in recent times,” the RBC analyst said in a statement. Tom Narayan. A path that the Star division dedicated to heavy vehicles would like to pursue as soon as possible, cementing a business that in 2019, before Covid, generated 40.2 billion in turnover, with 488,521 vehicles sold worldwide, and generated 2, 46 billion euros of profit (before taxes).
