Toyota and Daimler Just Shocked the Trucking World with a $6.4B Power Play
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Toyota (NYSE:TM) and Daimler Truck just sealed a $6.4 billion merger between their Japanese truck divisionsHino Motors and Mitsubishi Fusosetting the stage for a heavyweight in commercial vehicles that could finally give China's EV truck momentum a run for its money. The two companies have been circling this deal since May 2023, but an engine data scandal at Hino and a record $1.2 billion U.S. settlement delayed the closing. Now it's official. The new entity, which will sell over 200,000 units a year, is expected to go live by April 2026, with a planned listing in Japan. Toyota and Daimler Truck will each hold 25% of the holding company, but Toyota's voting rights will be capped at 19.9%.
This merger could be a defensive playand possibly a hydrogen-powered counterattack. With battery-electric vehicles already dominating cars, Toyota sees trucking as the best shot to scale its hydrogen fuel cell bets. That's key, especially as CATL's Robin Zeng recently projected that half of all new trucks sold in China could be electric by 2028. The combined group, led by Mitsubishi Fuso CEO Karl Deppen, gives Japan a consolidated commercial vehicle force to compete on tech and scale, while leaving Isuzu to lead the other half of the domestic market. Jefferies puts the combined group's equity value at 5.6 billion, pegging it at 11x EBIT.
There's more. As part of the deal, Toyota is buying Hino's Hamura plant for 150 billion ($1 billion)a site where it already builds the Hilux and Land Cruiser 250. This adds to the company's broader restructuring, including a planned $33 billion take-private of Toyota Industries. But the road ahead won't be smooth. Both Toyota and Daimler Truck have lost ground in market share, and U.S. tariffs haven't made life easier. Still, in a market shifting fast toward electrification and autonomy, the merger could help them stay in the fightespecially if hydrogen ends up playing a bigger role than expected.
This article first appeared on GuruFocus.