Finally, the spin-off. From this morning the shares of the truck division of Daimler AG (Daimler Truck) are exchanged, which opened at 28 euros on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and then rose, without overdoing it, to 29.58. The market value is around 24 billion euros. The shareholders of Daimler, which will be called Mercedes-Benz from February 1, received one share in Daimler Truck for every two shares of Daimler AG (down from the spin-off) owned. Daimler, to be renamed Mercedes-Benz AG, retained 35% of the shares in Daimler Truck.
The spin-off, the separation of trucks from cars after 125 years, was announced in February and presented as a lever for value creation. “We are sure of it – commented the CEO of Daimler, Ola Källenius, speaking to a room more empty than usual since the restrictions imposed by the pandemic also in Germany have limited the number of participants -. Trucks and cars have different requirements. In this way we are unlocking the full potential of both companies ”.
Daimler Truck achieved a turnover of 35 billion euros in 2020 compared to 44 billion in 2019, with an operating profit of 525 million compared to 2.7 billion the previous year. It is the largest truck manufacturer in the world by revenue, but lags behind competitors like Traton’s Scania and Volvo Group’s Volvo Trucks in terms of profit margins. Performance is best in North America, where it has seen an adjusted return on sales so far this year of 10.8%, compared to 7.2% in Asia and just 4.5% in Europe, it said in its Capital Markets. Day in November. Daimler Truck launched production of the eActros electric truck in October; the Freightliner brand, a landmark in the US, will launch an electric truck in 2022.
The separation from Daimler will allow both the truck and bus manufacturer and the passenger car and van business Mercedes-Benz AG to focus on their respective business areas in the transition to electrification, said the Daimler management team. “Now Daimler Truck is getting serious,” CEO Martin Daum said in a statement. The truck maker is aiming for double-digit profit margins across the business in 2025, up from the 2021 projected margin of 6-8%.
Daimler Truck is in the midst of a hefty cost-cutting program, including staff cuts (100,000 employees) and fixed cost reductions, which it plans to complete by 2023. Its goal in the coming years will be to increase sales by heavy electric vehicles, which according to the targets should reach 60% of all sales by 2030. And then there will be hydrogen, which “plays an important role for trucks,” explained Källenius, who will keep the helm for himself by Mercedes-Benz. At the center is the semiconductor crisis, which has also affected heavy vehicles and which will continue in 2022.