Traton And Hino Unveil E-Mobility Joint Venture

Traton and Hino have stepped up their e-mobility partnership and have signed a joint venture to develop electric vehicles including battery electric vehicles (BEV), fuel cell vehicles (FCV), and relevant components as well as creating common electric vehicle (EV) platforms including software and interfaces.

The commercial vehicle subsidiaries of Volkswagen (Traton) Toyota (Hino) have signed a joint venture agreement to speed up development for products with battery and fuel cell technology.

The pair said they will form a team of “advanced specialists” from both companies and launch activities in Södertälje, Sweden and then Tokyo. Traton and Hino said they will link up to shorten lead times for future e-mobility products with battery and fuel cell technology. The two companies said they are “convinced that both technologies will be needed in the future.”

Yoshio Shimo, president and chief executive officer Hino Motors, Ltd., said: “I am delighted that we can follow our procurement joint venture and further embodying our synergy with Traton in e-mobility, helping to reduce global carbon dioxide  emissions and fighting global warming. We will combine our strengths as leading commercial vehicle manufacturers to offer EVs with the highest value for customers, through joint planning of commercial EVs.”

Matthias Gründler, Traton’s chief executive officer said:“This new joint venture with our strong partner Hino is the next important step in electrification, pushing our mission further ahead.”

In 2018, Hino and Traton signed an agreement which, it said, aimed “for a mutually beneficial strategic long-term partnership and established a procurement joint venture in 2019.

Both companies added that they have agreed to “explore each other’s capabilities and investigate further possibilities to collaborate in other future fields of technology.”