Daimler and Foton Motor signed a letter of intent for cooperation in Beijing. The two sides agreed to set up a 50:50 medium-duty-card joint venture in China to provide medium- and heavy-duty trucks and technologies, and explore other opportunities to expand the international production and sales of Futian Auman brand in the global market. The new joint venture will have Benefit from Daimler's technological leadership, such as Mercedes-Benz heavy-duty engine technology, and Futian Auman brand in the low-end commercial vehicle segment as an international development platform. The China JV Company is the operation center for the global cooperation between the two parties and is also the center for the management decisions, R&D, production, supply chain management, and marketing management of the global cooperation.
Xu Heyi, President of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co., Ltd. (Baijing) and Wang Jinyu, President of Foton, and Dr. Rudiger Grube, Board Member of Daimler, who is responsible for corporate strategy, and Hua Lixin, Chairman and CEO of Northeastern Asia, Daimler ( Ulrich Walker and Wendelin Wolbert, President of Daimler Trucks China, attended the signing ceremony.
Daimler and Fukuda jointly open up a new path for joint ventures in the Chinese automotive industry
Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC, believes: “In addition to our car cooperation with Beijing Benz-Daimler Chrysler Automotive Co., Ltd., BAIC Group is very pleased to expand the cooperative relationship with Daimler to produce commercial vehicles in Foton. Foton acquired in China. The success and the extensive distribution network combined with the technology and knowledge of the Daimler Commercial Vehicles Division will bring great benefits to both parties."
Daimler and Foton Motors are strategic partners, not market-for-technology cooperation. The Chinese and Chinese heavy truck joint ventures in China will produce Futian Auman heavy truck products and Daimler license emissions and power respectively to reach the European V and 460 horsepower OM457 heavy truck engines, the joint venture company Futian products will use Futian Auman own brand . This form of joint venture guarantees that the joint venture will not only abandon its own brand and independent innovation, but also help increase the visibility and competitiveness of its own brand through joint ventures.
Futian Automobile General Manager Wang Jinyu stated: “The cooperation between Foton and Daimler brings strategic opportunities for both parties to explore global emerging markets. Foton’s economical commercial vehicle product resources and cost control advantages will help Daimler AG. Expanding its share in emerging markets; Daimler can also provide Fukuda with strong operational management, technology research and development and global sales network support to provide insurance for Foton Motor’s overseas investment.â€
According to relevant experts in the automotive industry, the cooperation between Daimler and Foton Motors has broken the old model of multinational car companies that only set up assembly plants in China since the reform and opening up 30 years ago, and has created a Chinese-foreign cooperation between China Advantages, together to build China's own brand of automotive precedent.
This cooperation has a strong complementarity with both parties to the joint venture and will promote a win-win strategy for both parties. The establishment of a joint venture company will undoubtedly be the best way to meet the strategic goals and interests of both parties. Through joint ventures, Daimler AG and Foton Motor will jointly create a company that is most competitive in meeting future road transport needs.
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For Foton Motors, the establishment of a joint venture company will greatly enhance its own level of heavy truck technology as well as its operational capabilities and ensure the sustainable development of the company in the future. After the establishment of the joint venture company, a new research and development center will be established within the joint venture company. Under the guidance of relevant technical experts from Daimler, this R&D center will implement a new quality system, which will help Futian Auman Heavy Trucks achieve a qualitative improvement in product reliability, safety, etc., thus enhancing overall European standards. Man heavy truck quality. It is reported that both parties will also introduce Daimler development tools to jointly develop a new cab in the R&D center of the joint venture company. In addition, in order to improve the operational efficiency of the joint venture company, Daimler will also send management experts and provide management know-how to the joint venture company to establish a world-class management team and management model for the joint venture company.
This will be a rare learning opportunity for Foton Motor, which will promote the acceleration of Foton Motor’s own growth, and at the same time, it will also enhance the R&D and innovation capabilities of Beijing Automotive Industry and even China’s automobile industry. By jointly establishing a new R&D center, Foton Motor will have the opportunity to digest, absorb, and master the most advanced technologies of the world's heavy trucks, especially key technologies that restrict the development of commercial vehicles in China; and through the support of Daimler's strong operational management capabilities, Foton Motors Cars may break through the bottleneck of management in the process of internationalization by learning the most advanced management experience and technology in the world.
In addition, by joining hands with Daimler, Foton Motor will take a new step in global business. Jointly investing in Daimler through overseas investments and using Daimler's global operating experience and resources to bring new strategic opportunities for the global leap-forward development of Foton Motor, and to develop the brand reputation and strong operational management capabilities needed for development. , marketing network and advanced R&D resources and other support.
Joining hands with Foton Daimler to accelerate the development of emerging markets
As the first brand of commercial vehicles in China, Foton Motor has unique experience in manufacturing commercial vehicles and production resources. In addition, Foton Motor's controlling party and Daimler's joint venture in China's sedan project are also BAIC Holdings, under the same system. The joint venture is beneficial to Daimler for project management and coordination. Therefore, the cooperation between Daimler AG and Foton Motors is a matter of course.
Dr. Rüdiger Grube said: “This is another step in our strategy to achieve long-term commercial vehicles and China. Foton is the most suitable partner. This combination presents a win-win situation for both parties and is very beneficial to our customers. With this new joint venture, Daimler will have two commercial vehicle joint ventures and a car joint venture in China. In addition, it will also engage in automobile wholesale and auto financial services in China."
In addition, through cooperation with Foton Motors, Daimler’s commercial vehicle layout in China will be more complete. Fujian Daimler Automotive Industry Co., Ltd. established in October 2007 will lay down light passenger cars, and the joint venture with Foton Motor will produce mid- and heavy-duty trucks. Daimler's two commercial vehicle joint ventures in South China and North China will play a very complementary role.
Ulrich Walker, chairman and chief executive officer of Daimler Northeast Asia, stated: “The signing ceremony today is a milestone for the commercial vehicle industry. The new joint venture between Daimler and Foton will benefit from the extraordinary Daimler's technical knowledge, global scale and leading position in the high-end truck segment, complementing Foton's extensive distribution network in China and its leading position in the economical truck segment, complement each other. In the Chinese market or in the international market, this joint venture is in an advantageous position in terms of growth, profitability and scale."
Wendelin Wolbert, President of Daimler Trucks China, said: “We look forward to expanding our cooperation with BAIC and Foton. Construction, logistics and long-distance transportation are constantly developing industries in the Chinese market and international markets. These industries We will need reliable, high-quality, economical trucks. We have established a good relationship with Foton and we are all looking forward to building the first Auman truck that benefits from Mercedes-Benz technology."
The cooperation plan between Daimler and Foton Motor will be submitted to the relevant national authorities for approval in the near future.
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