In a rather surprising move, Daimler has split their portfolio up between Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans and Daimler Trucks & Buses. The former is a spin off.
While BMW’s parent company is called BMW Group, Mercedes-Benz has, for the longest time been under the parent company Daimler. Read our parent company comparison article here.
Of course, there are historical reasons behind that, and the name itself isn’t particularly important. However, Daimler AG has now decided to restructure themselves and the result of it is that it be renamed ‘Mercedes-Benz’ to deal with just cars and vans. Their Truck and Bus business will be part of a new corporate structure called ‘Daimler Truck’.
Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans
As part of this restructuring, Daimler will eventually rename itself Mercedes-Benz and this unit of the business will be responsible for all passenger cars and commercial vans under the present structure.
Presumably, this would include:
- Mercedes-Benz (and sub-brands, Mercedes-AMG & Mercedes-Maybach)
- smart
- Mercedes-Benz Vans
Daimler Trucks & Busses
This business unit will be spun off and listed separate from Mercedes-Benz by the end of 2021. Daimler Truck will have a fully independent Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
As it stands, Daimler Truck is the world’s largest Truck and Bus producer. It has the number 1 position in many markets, including Europe, North America and Asia. It also employs more than 100,000 people worldwide under its 7 brands:
- BharatBenz
- Freighliner
- Fuso
- Mercedes-Benz (Trucks)
- Setra
- Thomas Built Buses
- Western Star
Back in 2019, this unit moved half a million trucks and busses and made nearly €45 billion in revenue.
Here’s what Chairman of the board of Management of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz had to say about the announced changes.
“This is a historic moment for Daimler. It represents the start of a profound reshaping of the company. Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans and Daimler Trucks & Buses are different businesses with specific customer groups, technology paths and capital needs. Mercedes-Benz is the world’s most valuable luxury car brand, offering the most desirable cars to discerning customers. Daimler Truck supplies industry leading transportation solutions and services to customers. Both companies operate in industries that are facing major technological and structural changes. Given this context, we believe they will be able to operate most effectively as independent entities, equipped with strong net liquidity and free from the constraints of a conglomerate structure,” said Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler and Mercedes-Benz.
“We have confidence in the financial and operational strength of our two vehicle divisions. And we are convinced that independent management and governance will allow them to operate even faster, invest more ambitiously, target growth and cooperation, and thus be significantly more agile and competitive,” added Källenius.
