Daimler AG-Beiqi Foton Motor Joint Venture

Daimler AG and Beiqi Foton Motor signed a letter of intent to form an equal share joint venture to produce medium and heavy-duty trucks in China. The joint venture will benefit from Daimler’s technology leadership, especially in the area of diesel engines. The two partners will use Foton’s Auman truck brand as a platform for international growth in the lower-end commercial vehicle segment.

“This joint venture is another step in realizing both our long-term commercial vehicle strategy and our China strategy,” said Dr. Rüdiger Grube, Daimler AG Board of Management member. With this move, Daimler will now have two commercial vehicle joint ventures (one with Indian Hero Group) and one passenger car joint venture in China, in addition to its financial services operations there.

“At BAIC we are very happy to expand our business relationship with Daimler to include commercial vehicles at Beiqi Foton, in addition to our cooperation for passenger cars at BeijingBenz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive,” said BAIC Chairman Xu. BAIC is the primary Chinese shareholder for both Beiqi Foton Trucks and BeijingBenz-DaimlerChrysler Automotive Ltd.

“Today’s agreement is a milestone in the history of the Chinese commercial vehicle industry,” said Ulrich Walker, Chairman and CEO of Daimler Northeast Asia. “The joint venture of Daimler and Foton will benefit from the outstanding strengths of the two companies. Daimler’s technology expertise, global scale, and market leadership in the high-end truck segment ideally complement Foton’s broad sales network in China and its market leadership in the lower-end truck segment. This joint venture will be an excellent starting point for growth, profitability, and expansion, not only in China but in international markets as well.”