Product news

Two bits of M&A news have filtered through the ether over the weekend.

Asked about Fiat Group’s commitment to the total ownership of a medium and heavy duty truck manufacturer, CEO Sergio Marchionne responded that it was ‘unwavering’.

According to the Japanese Nikkei newspaper, Hino is to launch its diesel-electric Dutro Hybrid truck in Australia this month. By taking advantage of brisk demand for environment-friendly vehicles outside Japan, the truck maker aims to triple its overseas truck sales to 150,000 by 2015, the business daily said.

The news that Ford has filed suit against Navistar shouldn’t come as a surprise; the Warrenville, Illinois-based manufacturer has been a contender for our favourite basketcase OEM award for a time now. Aided in part by the fact that its previous accountants have had some difficulty adding up, its financials are a mess, and its strategy – whilst commendable from the perspective of an industry attempting to globalise – seems to have been leading it nowhere.

Interesting report here about KaMAZ and its plans for India. This is the market to be in at the moment, and it’ll be interesting to see just how the Russian OEM gets on against the indigenous giants – Tata and Ashok – and the newly keen European OEMs – including Volvo, MB, Scania and MAN.

No shortage of hybrid news kicking around today. There’s an announcement here concerning Freightliner’s pitch for a piece of the medium-duty hybrid market, whilst here is a tale about Mack’s take on the genre. We assume that the Freightliner variant is closely reelated to Fuso's Eco Hybrid.

Volvo’s current Chinese truck JV partner China National Heavy-Duty Truck Corporation (CNHTC) has been doing a bit more sabre rattling. It expects its annual overseas sales to jump five-fold to $1 billion in four years as it aggressively pushes sales beyond its domestic market, says this report in the Peoples’ Daily.

Looks like the MAN Scania bid has finally died the death. In truth, it’s been coughing up blood in the hallway ever since Bernd Pischetsrieder received the surprise elbow from VW a month or so back, but the rejection by VW of the MAN offer – it is Scania’s biggest shareholder – has finally put the lid on things.

The news that both Paccar and Isuzu are to develop new manufacturing facilities in the US comes at an interesting time. Isuzu is to establish a plant in Birmingham, Alabama, and, whilst Paccar is rather coyer as to its plans, we’d put some money on it opting for the same state.

Iveco is to invest US$68 / €51.6 / £34.8 million in its Brazilian operations, based at the Sete Lagoas plant in Minas Gerais province. The company aims to produce 12,000 trucks through its Brazilian operation during 2007, of which around 30 per cent will be destined for regional export. In addition to Brazil, both Argentina and Venezuela are key markets for the Italian OEM.