When companies look back nostalgically at their shareholder meetings, it is usually not without reason. For example the little digression at the virtual general meeting of the VW truck subsidiary Traton this Wednesday. Imported black and white images from the early years, MAN 1915, truck production of the then Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg, then historical film recordings of MAN trucks in the economic wonderland of the post-war period. There are motives that you need on days like this, because Traton, the truck holding company to which MAN belongs, has only existed since 2015. It was founded around MAN, the Swedish truck manufacturer Scania and the commercial vehicle business of Volkswagen to be summarized under one roof. So there is no company that would provide historical images. More like a kind of utility construct for commercial vehicles.
And a construct with big plans and a certain urge for greatness. It begins with the fact that MAN held its probably last own general meeting the day before. The VW Holding Traton, which holds more than 94 percent of MAN, takes the truck manufacturer from Munich off the stock exchange by paying the last remaining shareholders with 70.68 euros and thus forcing them out of the company. This is called “squeeze-out”. After pushing out, there is usually complete merging – in this case with Traton. “Our shareholders’ meeting is virtual,” says Traton boss Matthias Gründler as a greeting. “Our strategic advances, however, are very real.”
From this Thursday on, the US truck manufacturer Navistar will also officially be part of Volkswagen’s commercial vehicle holding company. The Germans paid 3.7 billion dollars to make Navistar the fourth brand in the Traton group alongside MAN, Scania and VW. Now the approvals for the takeover are available, and Traton is growing “measured by sales by about 30 percent,” says Gründler. Corona crisis? Once upon a time. Freight forwarders are investing again, the markets are on the upswing. In the second quarter, the company exceeded both sales and the record incoming orders of the first quarter. In the first quarter, sales were 60,000 vehicles and incoming orders were 81,700. “Business with trucks is still going well,” said Gründler . And so the group wants to expand further – Europe, the USA, and now China is on the program. It is about “closing the relevant white spots on our world map in Asia,” said Gründler. After all, China is the largest commercial vehicle market in the world, and the days of looking for cheap models there are also over. Instead, customers of truck fleets bought more expensive and higher quality vehicles. “We are currently analyzing how we can best exploit the potential of our brands in China on our own,” said Gründler. The Swedish Traton subsidiary Scania is currently building a factory near Shanghai. Scania will thus be the first western truck manufacturer to produce 100 percent independently in China.
MAN plans to start building electric trucks in Munich by 2024
In the spring, Gründler and his people saw that things can sometimes get complicated in China and that growth there can come at a price. Recordings clearly showed that the military was driving around in Myanmar brutally suppressing protests in Sinotruk trucks. Spicy about it: The Chinese truck manufacturer is a local partner of MAN, the Munich-based company holds 25 percent plus one share in the Chinese. Too close to say it’s none of your business. But probably too far away to be involved. Gründler later told the SZ that they had raised the issue at Sinotruk and asked for “clarification”. He was assured that no business was done with the military. So now more growth in China.
Much is changing in Germany too. MAN wants to build electric trucks in Munich by 2024, but 3500 jobs in Germany are also to be eliminated by the end of 2022. Maybe that’s why this spectacular change happened recently: Bernd Osterloh, that long-time and powerful VW works council chairman, switched sides in the spring and has become HR director at Traton. “He started his new job at full throttle,” says Gründler. “Welcome again on this path.” From Wolfsburg to Munich, and a shareholder representative asks what this action is all about. Answer: The supervisory board is convinced that Osterloh, with “his decades of experience in the VW Group”, is the best cast. In-depth knowledge of dealing with employees and managers, creative drive, assertiveness, things like that. What you just need in a truck company that is supposed to get bigger.