Giants join forces: Toyota and Daimler reshape the global commercial vehicle landscape

Giants join forces: Toyota and Daimler reshape the global commercial vehicle landscape

June 10, 2025，Toyota Motor Corporation and Daimler Trucks have jointly signed a final agreement, announcing that they will complete the strategic merger of Hino Motors and Mitsubishi Fuso Trucks and Buses by April 2026.This industrial integration spanning Europe and Asia is not only a breakthrough move by the two major automotive groups in response to industry changes, but also indicates that the global commercial vehicle market is about to undergo a structural reshaping.

An inevitable choice in the context of industrial transformation

The global commercial vehicle industry is at a crossroads of transformation. The wave of electrification, breakthroughs in autonomous driving technology, the popularization of intelligent connectivity, and strict emission regulations have jointly formed the survival test questions for traditional manufacturers. Daimler Trucks' Asian business is hitting a bottleneck. Its core segment, Mitsubishi Fuso, saw a profit margin of only 5.4% in the first quarter of 2025, less than 40% of its performance in the US market. Hino Motors, a subsidiary of Toyota, is also struggling. Its sales dropped by 4% in the fiscal year 2024, with a decline of 10% in overseas markets. The previous certification and testing scandal has further damaged the brand's reputation, The integration of resources between the two sides is essentially about breaking through development bottlenecks through complementary advantages - in the global commercial vehicle market worth over 500 billion US dollars, only by concentrating efforts can one gain the upper hand in technological iteration.

Merge the architecture and strategic blueprint

According to the agreement, the newly established holding company will be jointly owned by Toyota and Daimler Trucks, each holding 25% of the equity, forming a balanced governance structure. This framework not only retains the strategic discourse power of both sides but also clears obstacles for resource coordination. Karl Deppon, the CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso, will take up the position of CEO of the new company, indicating that mature management experience will continue during the integration process. Technology integration has become the core highlight: Mitsubishi Fuso has launched the eCanter light pure electric truck and has been deeply involved in the formulation of battery replacement standards in Japan. Hino's layout in the North American hydrogen fuel cell heavy truck market and the Asian electric commercial vehicle market has begun to bear fruit. Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell technology reserves will provide the new company with a "technological ballast stone" in the new energy vehicle race. The superposition of the three-party technology matrix is expected to create a multiplier effect in fields such as electrification, hydrogen energy application, and autonomous driving.

At the operational level, the two brands will maintain independent operation and sales networks, but the in-depth collaboration of their R&D, procurement, and production systems is planned to achieve a cost optimization of 1.2 billion euros by 2026.This "harmony without uniformity" model not only avoids the internal friction of brand integration but also fully unleages the scale effect.

Reshape the competitive landscape of the industry

This merger is triggering a chain reaction in the global commercial vehicle market. In terms of technology, the "chemical reaction" formed by Toyota's hydrogen energy patent and Daimler's autonomous driving algorithm may accelerate the process of new energy transformation of commercial vehicles, A full-scenario solution ranging from short-distance electric delivery vehicles to long-distance hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks may enter the commercialization stage ahead of schedule. The power map of regional markets will also be restructured. In Japan, the integration of Hino and Mitsubishi Fuso will form a "duopoly" with Isuzu-UD trucks. In the European market, with the channel advantages of Daimler, Hino's hydrogen energy technology is expected to be implemented at an accelerated pace. In the North American market, Mitsubishi Fuso's electric platform may generate a synergy effect with Hino's localized network.

It is worth noting that this integration is also a strategic response to the rise of Chinese manufacturers. As companies like CATL push for a 50% electrification rate in China's truck market by 2028, the technical standards and market rules for global commercial vehicles are undergoing a reconstruction. The collaboration between Toyota and Daimler is essentially about building technological barriers through cross-border resource integration to defend the market position of traditional giants in the new round of industrial revolution.

From the perspective of industry evolution, this merger may become the trigger for the consolidation of the global commercial vehicle industry. When the cost of technological research and development increases exponentially and trade barriers and environmental protection regulations become increasingly strict, achieving resource concentration through capital ties will become an inevitable choice for more enterprises. The ultimate beneficiaries of this transformation might be the entire commercial vehicle industry - driven by the giants, a more environmentally friendly, intelligent and efficient logistics ecosystem is accelerating its arrival.