Reuters tells us that AB Volvo has agreed to withdraw from its JV with CNHTC, the parent of Sinotruk, which, as announced last week, has just welcomed MAN as a 25 per cent stakeholder.
Very good, and, depending on the price that has been extracted from AB Volvo, we'll assume that there are one or two celebrations going on Gothenburg today. CNHTC adopted a unique - and some might say cavalier - approach to IP issues, and the Sino-Swedish co-operation has been riven through with ill-temper.
AB Volvo now has an opportunity to develop its nascent relationship with Dongfeng. Leaving aside the obvious question as to how many times one has to be bitten before one gets shy, any extension of a Dongfeng relationship may have a deletirous impact upon the Nissan Diesel situation. We're pretty certain that Daimler is looking for an adjustment in its relationship with MTFBC, and, if AB Volvo can add to its existing Asian business (Volvo-Eicher) with a Dongfeng deal, then NDM's position looks far from secure.
But with some Chinese authorities apparently keen to encourage Chinese automakers to cast their nets overseas, all eyes must now be on CNHTC having a close look at MAN. Piech's dream of a combined global truck manufacturer looks to have run its course, and, as VW seeks to extricate itself from the rather splendid mess that is VW-Scania-MAN-VWCVLatAM, MAN looks like the most obvious brand to stick in the shop window. Whether or not CNHTC stops to take a look remains to be seen, but the odds on it doing so have increased quite markedly.
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