Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group have revealed they have linked up again in a joint venture, announcing they have signed a binding agreement to establish a new 50/50 joint venture to develop a software-defined vehicle platform for heavy duty vehicles and to drive what they describes as ‘the industry transformation’.
The two transport giants say that the new company aims to set an industry standard with headquarters at Gothenburg in Sweden and that the common goal of the partners is to develop a truck operating system to offer the joint venture’s brand- and versatile application-agnostic products to other commercial vehicle OEMs.
Daimler Truck and Volvo Group said they will remain competitors in all other business areas and that they will continue to focus on an independent product and service offering, including the respective differentiating digital customer offerings.
As announced earlier, in May this year, Daimler and Volvo have intended to create a joint venture to develop a common software-defined vehicle platform and dedicated truck operating system, providing the basis for what they describe as future software-defined commercial vehicles.
The two companies, which are arguably the leaders in the commercial vehicle industry, have now signed the binding agreement to establish the joint venture and say they now are working towards setting up the company, headquartered in Gothenburg.
The companies say that the software-defined vehicle platform will enable Daimler and Volvo and potentially other future customers of the joint venture to provide stand-alone digital vehicle functions for their products.
“The signing demonstrates our joint commitment to lead the digital transformation of our industry. The software and hardware from this joint venture will be crucial for achieving unprecedented levels of safety, comfort, and efficiency for our customers,” said the CEO of Daimler Truck, Karin Rådström,
Rådström’s counterpart, Martin Lundstedt, the president and CEO of the Volvo Group, added that they are joining forces to redefine software architecture and pioneer a new era of self-optimising trucks.
“Together we are removing complexity to allow our customers to unlock higher levels of connectivity, safety and efficiency and continually push for a greater performance. It is a revolutionary response to the challenges of our modern world, and we are proud to be setting the industry standard,” said Lundstedt.
The jcomapnies have said that the joint venture’s activities will include the specification and procurement of centralised high performance control units dedicated for commercial vehicles and capable of handling large amounts of data.
According tot he joint venlturerers, the new company will develop an operating system and tools which vehicle manufacturers can use as a basis to develop their own differentiating digital vehicle features. This will decouple software and hardware development cycles in the future and enable customers to purchase and update digital applications wirelessly ‘over the air’, ultimately enhancing customer efficiency and experience.
Daimler and Volvo say that they will remain competitors and continue to differentiate their complete product and services offerings, including their respective digital solutions.
The establishment of the new joint venture company comes on the back of the 50/50 joint venture, Celcentric, the company the two brands joined together to create hydrogen fuel cell technology, while the mooted joint venture between Daimler and Toyota to merge the Hino and Fuso brands is still being negotiated. All of these joint venture participations only serve to underline the massive costs of development of new truck technology and the need to lay off some of the huge expenditures needed to bring them to market.
The transaction for the joint venture is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025, subject to obtaining all required regulatory approvals.
