Karl Deppen, President and CEO, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation
First of all, hello and thank you to all of you joining us here and around the world.
I’m Karl Deppen, CEO of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation.
You’ve already heard quite a bit about this project from my associates, but let me give you the FUSO point of view.
I’ll begin with some background.
The FUSO brand was founded by the Mitsubishi Group over 90 years ago.
Daimler took shares in Mitsubishi Fuso in 2003 and we now hold 89% of the stock.
We sell commercial vehicles in around 170 markets―Mitsubishi Fuso products are well-known for their efficiency, reliability and superior safety.
As leaders for eLDT, we recently started selling the new eCanter.
So, with all that success and history, why are we now tying up with HINO?
Simply put, the world is changing. Our industry needs to change with it.
Japan’s economy and society needs state-of-the-art transportation. At the same time, Japan has committed to be carbon neutral by 2050. We take it as our task to be part of the solution to decarbonize road transport.
And today’s customer demands more.
Connectivity, automation, electrification; a whole range of advanced services and technology to make logistics as safe, efficient and profitable as possible, all while causing the least possible harm to the environment.
And I’ll be frank―developing that takes enormous investment, resources and expertise.
To continue to offer our customers value, while also staying successful ourselves, we need partners, and we need scale.
And who better to tie up with than HINO Motors, a company as dedicated to the CV industry as ourselves?
Together, we will become a force, a strong Japanese truck company with a complementary portfolio of products, a massive network and a workforce of highly experienced employees across the globe.
With this bold move, we will more than double our resources.
That means increased access to knowledge and expertise, a wider network of suppliers and infrastructure, more people working together to develop technology faster.
It means better value for our customers, it provides opportunities for our employees, benefits our suppliers and dealers, and safeguards the return to our shareholders. This merger will position us as the foremost player in the Asian transportation sector, strong enough to compete with all the new brands we see entering the market, especially outside of Japan.
I am really looking forward to all the new possibilities this collaboration will open up.
Another important point for me is the nature of that collaboration.
From the time this discussion first started, I knew we needed a win-win solution for all parties involved.
Merging two companies that have traditionally been competitors is of course a challenge.
This collaboration can only work if we join as equals, respecting each other’s strengths and working together to make a future brighter than either of us could find alone.
That is why I am so satisfied with the terms we have set forth here today.
One company, with two strong, distinct brands, supported by the expertise and resources of Toyota and Daimler Truck.
Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do. A lot of questions to answer, here in Japan and in all of our markets.
That’s why we’re going to take our time and do this right.
We’re going to check every aspect of this project carefully over the next 18 or so months, with the target of completing the transaction by the end of 2024.
It’s a daunting task, but I have full confidence not only in the fantastic team of Daimler Truck and Mitsubishi Fuso, but also in our new friends at Toyota and Hino.
So, let me close by saying thank you and welcome to them.
I’m so excited to see what we will achieve in the coming years. Together, we’re going to grow together.
