Traton Group and China’s Sinotruk to localise MAN heavy-duty truck

The Traton Group, formerly Volkswagen Truck & Bus AG, and Chinese CNHTC Group have announced a further expansion of their long-term partnership today.

MAN and Sinotruk have been working together since 2009 and have agreed to broaden this cooperation by establishing a joint venture to localise a MAN heavy-duty truck in China and evaluating and intensifying technology and procurement cooperation. Since the beginning of the partnership, MAN has held a 25 percent stake plus one share in Sinotruk, one of the leading heavy-duty truck manufacturers in China.

Andreas Renschler, CEO of Traton AG and member of the Management Board of Volkswagen AG responsible for Commercial Vehicles, said: “Sinotruk is amongst the strongest players in the Chinese heavy-duty market. The challenges the transportation sector is facing require joint forces and close alliances. Increasing transport volumes, regulation and digitization require change and flexibility. Partnerships are the right answer to turn these challenges into opportunities.”

Cai Dong, president of Sinotruk, said: “The cooperation with MAN has always been highly satisfactory. The technology of MAN has been a key success factor to succeed in the heavy-duty segment. We are therefore looking forward to extending the partnership between our companies. We are very confident that we will be able to achieve further successes.”

Joachim Drees, CEO of MAN SE as well as MAN Truck & Bus AG and member of the management of Traton AG, said: “We are very proud of our track record of working together with Sinotruk. The partnership has been very accretive for both parties for almost a decade now. Evaluating how we can leverage our joint capabilities further is therefore logical. Our new plans together are currently taking concrete shape. As MAN, we are eager to increase our cooperation.”

At the core of the increased cooperation is the plan to form a joint venture between MAN and Sinotruk. Supported by the new joint venture, MAN plans to localise a heavy-duty truck in China, the largest heavy-duty truck market in the world.

Furthermore, opportunities with regards to technology cooperation will be evaluated. Among the areas expected to be explored will be powertrains, electrification, autonomous driving as well as buses. Beyond the planned joint venture, Traton and Sinotruk also intend to extend their efforts to benefit from synergies.