Fukuda, Daimler's joint venture dust settled to establish a joint venture company in the heavy truck

After eight years of running, the joint venture between Daimler and Beiqi Foton finally settled.

Under the joint witness of the Chinese and German prime ministers, Daimler signed a joint venture contract with Beiqi Foton Motor Co., Ltd., and the two parties established a 50:50 joint-venture company.

The total investment of the joint venture company is 6.35 billion yuan, which will produce Auman brand trucks.

Beiqi Foton is funded by Auman's business-related physical assets and Daimler invests cash.


This is considered to be a joint venture project that rewritten the history of joint ventures between Chinese and foreign car companies. In the past, the joint ventures were funded by foreign parties using technology and brands. The Chinese side provided cash and the joint venture produced foreign brands.

However, there are also regrets that have been overlooked behind this highly regarded joint venture. In 2008, the two parties issued a high-profile "Letter of Intent for Cooperation", stating that both parties will jointly develop overseas markets based on joint ventures. The Auman brand will use the Daimler global marketing network to go overseas.

This is also the main reason why this joint venture project was initially highly favored by the industry. Futian has the opportunity to transfer to the overseas market by offering opportunities in the domestic market. However, the joint venture agreement that was ultimately signed did not emphasize this aspect. Futian helped Daimler to gain access to the Chinese market, but did he wonder if he could exchange Daimler's overseas network?

Special batch of joint venture projects

This joint venture project, which has undergone an eight-year long review and approval process, is also very dramatic in its final approval process. “This is an opportunity for the German Chancellor to visit China. The National Development and Reform Commission approved it through special approvals. Formally signed the contract on July 16th. We were notified of the joint venture agreement on the afternoon of July 14th.” Beiqi Foton News spokesperson and vice chairman of the Party Committee Secretary Zhao Jingguang recalled the approval process and was not without pride in his speech.

Next, the joint venture agreement between Foton and Daimler needs to be approved by the ministries and commissions of the Ministry of Commerce, but according to the approval experience of the joint venture project of car companies, after the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission, the approval of other ministries is relatively easy.

"Well, the joint venture company is expected to be formally established by the end of this year," said Zhao Jingguang.

Beiqi Foton announced on July 17 that the name of the joint venture company is Beijing Futian Daimler Automotive Co., Ltd., with a total investment of RMB 6.35 billion and a registered capital of RMB 5.6 billion, of which Foton Motors has assets related to the Auman business. Implementing physical contributions (intangible assets such as trademarks, patents, and know-how relating to the business as part of the physical contribution of Foton Motor), amounting to RMB 2.8 billion, accounting for 50% of the registered capital; Daimler AG invests 2.24 billion in cash Yuan, accounting for 40% of the registered capital; Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Co., Ltd. invested 560 million yuan in cash, accounting for 10% of registered capital.

The joint venture company will produce the Auman brand's existing medium-heavy-duty truck products, the OM457 engine's "Aulman" medium and heavy truck hybrid models, and the Daimler OM457 heavy-duty diesel engine with an emission standard up to Euro V.

All these contents are very proud of Foton Motor. “We are the first joint venture in the joint venture to use the Chinese brand,” Zhao Jingguang said proudly.

However, Zhao did not want to discuss more about the previously agreed contents of the Auman brand with Daimler's global marketing network going overseas.

In the announcement, regarding the future export of joint ventures, there is only one simple sentence: “Any sale of any product outside the scope of the joint venture’s operations to outside China will be led by Futian Automobile with the support of Daimler.” Zhao Jingguang explained that the joint venture Export products will be solely responsible for Futian International Trading Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Beiqi Foton.

However, Futian's export business was also solely responsible for Futian International Trading Company. Whether Foton Motor can use Daimler's global marketing system and network is not reflected in the joint venture agreement between the two parties.

However, in 2008, when Beiqi Foton and Daimler released the letter of intent for cooperation, it was another statement. The new joint venture company will produce Foton Auman brand heavy trucks and incorporate it into the Mercedes-Benz global commercial vehicle brand system. The two sides will also establish a global operation center to jointly develop new markets. Even the timetable was listed. The joint venture company established a joint venture in Russia two years after its establishment, and established joint ventures in markets such as Southeast Asia in 3-5 years.

However, the newly signed "Joint Venture Agreement" between the two parties clarified that the joint venture company will be the global operation center of the two parties, but there is no mention of the introduction of the Futian Auman brand into the Mercedes-Benz commercial vehicle marketing system and the establishment of a joint venture overseas.

Before the connection, it was rumored that the two parties had differences in negotiations. Daimler, who cherishes the brand and network, did not want to leverage the Auman brand. In the recent move of Beiqi Foton to set up a branch in Russia alone, there were doubts from the industry that the parties had previously agreed on joint development. The terms of overseas markets have shrunk.

However, Zhao Jingguang very positively denied the claim that the joint venture agreement had shrunk. "The fact that exports are led by the Chinese has explained everything. With regard to exports, our right to speak is even greater."

Daimler Northeast Asia Investment Corporation and Mercedes-Benz China did not respond to this.

8 year long-distance running road

Although the final joint venture agreement is not very satisfactory from the outside world, it is a hard-won joint venture project for both Futian and Daimler. Before the final signing of the agreement, the two parties had an eight-year long run on the path of the joint venture negotiation, and the joint venture program also changed again and again.

As early as 2003, Daimler, who failed to negotiate with FAW Group, began formal negotiations with Foton. The two parties plan to set up a joint venture company to produce Mercedes-Benz and Auman dual-brand products, focusing on mid- to high-end and mid-to-low-end markets for domestic heavy trucks. .

However, the 2004 edition of the "Automotive Industry Development Policy" is brewing and stipulates that a multinational company can only have two joint ventures in the same model in China. Daimler had already used up two joint ventures. Fukuda wanted to establish a joint venture with Daimler by acquiring the Yaskawa Mercedes-Benz bus curve with Daimler’s joint venture, but it failed.

In 2006, the two parties also wanted to carry out a curve joint venture by way of Daimler’s purchase of 24% shares in Foton Motor. In order to obtain the approval of the government authorities, they specifically avoided the proportion of foreign companies participating in listed Chinese-listed companies that could not exceed 25% of their shares. Acquired 24% of the equity. However, as the NDRC finds that the share ratio is less than 25%, it still counts as a joint venture, and it needs to have a joint venture quota, and it still fails to do so.

Seeing the rapid growth of China's heavy truck market year after year, Daimler, who has missed several years of opportunity, is reluctant to drag on, decisively withdraws from Yangzhou Yaxing Mercedes and frees up a joint venture, clearing the way for a joint venture with Foton. The two sides restructured their joint venture plans and submitted their approvals.

Zhao Jingguang introduced that in these 8 years, neither Futian nor Daimler gave up their cooperation or turned to other companies to discuss cooperation. Fukuda valued Daimler's strong technical strength and branding, and he was eager to share the growth opportunities in China's heavy truck market. At the same time, there are also limited cooperation partners to choose from in China. Daimler has already collapsed with FAW before. Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle has been incorporated into the joint venture between Dongfeng Group and Nissan. Sinotruk has cooperated with Volvo and later entered into a joint venture with MAN. . For the remaining domestic heavy truck companies, only Futian is the most suitable.

Zhao Jingguang also categorically denied that there was disagreement between the two parties in the joint-venture negotiations, saying that the two sides' views on joint ventures have been very consistent, and the final joint venture agreement is a win-win result.

However, from the final joint-venture agreement, the two sides still have differences in the joint venture negotiations. Daimler still has great concerns about incorporating the Auman brand into the global marketing system of Mercedes-Benz heavy trucks, and there is no timetable for joint ventures between the two sides to establish overseas factories.

A person with a long-term focus on the heavy-duty truck industry believes that from the current perspective, the first step in the joint venture between the two parties is firstly the domestic market. If Daimler can successfully open up the Chinese market through a joint venture with Fukuda, it will be possible for the two parties to jointly go overseas. .
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