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Daimler is spinning off its truck division from its Mercedes-Benz cars

The luxury automaker, meanwhile, will be renamed Mercedes-Benz Group beginning next February

Victoria Waldersee, Reuters
Oct 01, 2021  •  October 1, 2021  •  1 minute read  •  Join the conversation
Daimler AG employees arrive to hold a meeting at the Mercedes-Benz Plant at Marienfelde in Berlin, Germany, September 24, 2020.
Daimler AG employees arrive to hold a meeting at the Mercedes-Benz Plant at Marienfelde in Berlin, Germany, September 24, 2020. Photo by Michele Tantussi /Reuters

Daimler shareholders on Friday voted in favor of spinning off the company’s truck division Daimler Truck Holdings, with shares in the new company to start trading in December.

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Daimler Trucks & Buses is set to become the world’s largest truckmaker after the spinoff is complete.

“Until now we’ve had to orient ourselves to the route taken by our car colleagues. In the future we can plan our own route and choose the path that is ideal for us,” Daimler Trucks CEO Martin Daum said at the meeting.

Daimler will keep a 35-per-cent stake in Daimler Trucks, and provide it with a net liquidity of 5 billion euros until the end of the year.

The luxury carmaker, to be renamed Mercedes-Benz Group from next February to reflect its focus on the car and van business, expects the spun-off truckmaker to join it on the DAX listing of Germany’s 40 largest firms in the first quarter of 2022, it said on Friday.

The truckmaker will focus on developing its high-margin heavy truck business, CEO Daum has said, and is betting on a mix of battery-electric and hydrogen vehicles to reach its goal of CO2 neutral production by 2039.

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