The Volvo Group and Daimler Trucks have now signed the binding agreement to establish the previously announced joint venture to facilitate the development, production and marketing of fuel cell systems ready for series production commercial vehicles.
The Volvo Group will acquire 50 per cent of the shares in Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG for approximately 600 million euros, Daimler said. The partners expect to complete the transaction in the first half of 2021.
Daimler Trucks and the Volvo Group reached a preliminary, non-binding agreement. They had taken first steps to formalise the cooperation earlier this year as previously reported. The then newly founded Daimler Truck Fuel Cell GmbH & Co. KG bundles the Group’s fuel cell activities, including the former Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH, which developed the drive system for the Mercedes GLC F-Cell passenger car model, among other things.
“For us at Daimler Truck AG and our intended partner, the Volvo Group, the hydrogen-based fuel-cell is a key technology for enabling CO2-neutral transportation in the future,” said Martin Daum, chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler Truck AG and Member of the Board of Management of Daimler AG.
Martin Lundstedt, President and CEO of the Volvo Group, added: “In the future, the world will be powered by a combination of battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles, along with other renewable fuels to some extent. The formation of our fuel-cell joint venture is an important step in shaping a world we want to live in”.
