Fuso and Hino have revealed more details about the impending merger of the two truck companies, announcing that the name of the new entity will be Archion with the organisation declaring that it would be working with the grandiose and boastful aim of ‘Delivering the future of commercial mobility’.
However given the planned split up of responsibilities in the expected new company one can’t help but wonder whether Daimler has pulled off another ‘upper hand’ merger in the ilk of the infamous Daimler Chrysler tie up, which favoured the German company from day one.
In another example of the hubris offered up by the new companies they said that they would ” Focus on the customer and contribute to sustainable
transportation”. So much for Motherhood statements.
In the statement issued in Tokyo overnight the companies outlined some of the key executives who will be running the new organisation, where it will be headquartered and how the organisation will function practically in the future.
The new company wil be a holding company of Fuso and Hino and will be headquartered in a new building in Shinagawa in Tokyo with Daimler executive Karl Deepen named as the CEO and representatives, while current Hino boss, Satoshi Ogiso, has been named as a director and chief technical officer, an unusual move given Hino’s involvement in the major emissions and fuel efficiency fraud, which was described as a factor that precipitated the massive merger.
Hetal Laligi, currently chief financial officer Fuso Truck and Bus, has been designated as CFO and representative director of the new company while fellow Daimler exec, Christian Herrmann, the current vice president and head of corporate development for Daimler Truck has been named as a non-executive director. Kiyotaka Ise, a director of Sumitomo Riko Ltd has also been named as a none-executive director, while four other independent outside directors along with other key management positions will be announced once finalised.
The new positions will take effect from the planned commencement of business on 1st April , next year and are subject to the necessary approvals and closing of the transaction, until then, they will remain in their current roles.
They said that the identification of potential synergies including an ‘Integrated Platform Strategy’, the driving of product enhancement, portfolio expansion, scale
advantages, and investment efficiency would be prime targets of Archion, together with optimisation of product variations while accelerating technology development
In an even more Japanese/English way and with strange logic the organisation says that the new name Archion, “embodies the essence of arches”, which it explains represents the connection between the companies and their stakeholders, as well as to each other.
It goes on to say that ‘Eons’ represents the creation of the future of transportation, connecting to a better life for the next generation, despite the fact that th4e name is spelled with an ‘ion’ not an ‘eon’. Together it tries to explain that the concepts were reformed into ‘Archion’
The statement says the new company will embody the commitment to “enhance business efficiency and sharpen competitiveness through integration, while promoting safe, reliable and environmentally friendly vehicles”.
It says that the new corporation will be a holding company, with Fuso and Hino functioning as operating companies with the first goal being to implement an integrated platform strategy and to explore synergies between the two groups.
In line with this, the group announced the first areas of potential synergy will be around pursuing integrated platform strategies which it says it hopes will enhance competitiveness, leverage the strengths of both companies and build a competitive product portfolio under each brand.
It went on to say that the companies will investigate how to meld their heavy, medium, and light-duty platforms to ‘enhance competitiveness, improve cost efficiency, and enable faster product launches’.
It said that this will enable the new organisation to utilise models from both brands to ensure a “more comprehensive product portfolio for customers, while maintaining the characteristics of each brand”.
It says the two brands will actively pursue integration and streamlining of development, procurement, production, and logistics functions to support the integrated platform strategy, which 9t hopes will significantly boost business efficiency through optimal and efficient use of resources.
“Consolidating development functions allows the reduction of duplicate investments and enables timely integration of product platforms, building a foundation to support future innovation,” the statement said.
It hopes that substantial cost reductions can be achieved across a wide range of direct and indirect procurement categories bybundling purchase volumes, with the pursuit of further efficiency gains through scale follow through the synergy of platforms.
The company said that it plans to rationalise its production sites and logistics networks to hopefully improve costs, quality, and lead times.
It said that by the end of 2028, the current five Japanese domestic truck production sites between the two brands, will be consolidated into three locations including the Kawasaki Plant Koga Plant and the Nitta Plant.
Hino’s Hamura plant will be transferred to Toyota while Fuso’s Nakatsu Plant operations will be consolidated at the Kawasaki Plant.
The new company hopes to develop market-leading products across all Zero Emission Vehicle segments by leveraging the “technological capital and scale advantages of the Toyota and Daimler Truck network”.
The new company says it will draw on the combined expertise and cooperation of Toyota and Daimler Truck for world-class hydrogen fuel cell technology which it says will also accelerate development in the autonomous driving domain.
It also hopes that Hino and Mitsubishi Fuso will improve solution offerings in the area of connected mobility, while better utilising fleet data for improved customer value.
“Today we take the next step to bring our shared vision to life: With ARCHION, we aim to ‘deliver the future of commercial mobility’ for the benefit of our customers and all stakeholders. With the strong brands FUSO and Hino, we will provide superior products and solutions for our customers and their needs. ARCHION will implement an effective governance model to build trust by promoting transparency, compliance and improving financial performance.
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– The designated representative director and CEO and current president and CEO of Fuso Truck and Bus, Karl Deppen, said the financial ambition for the new Group is rooted in a clear strategy, unlocking the full potential of this integration by realising synergies and growth opportunities, while continuously working to improve the standalone performance of both companies.
“We aim to elevate financial resilience and performance to peer benchmark level. Capital allocation in line with this strategy will enable sustainable value creation,” Deppen said.
– The designated CFO Hetal Laligi, said we are committed to putting our customers at the centre of everything we do to drive customer business success.
“Both Fuso and Hino have built strong relationships with customers in our respective markets and to further strengthen these bonds, it is essential that we continue to refine our products, which are the key touch points between us, our customers, and society,” said Laligi.
” By combining the strengths of all four companies, we will accelerate the development of CASE technologies and shape the future of commercial mobility and to achieve this, we will foster a corporate culture that values mutual learning and respects diversity,” he said
Satoshi Ogiso, who will be the new chief technical officer at Archion and who is the current CEO of Hino said further details on the scope and nature of the collaboration are intended to be announced at a later date, with the deal set to proceed to closing subject to approval from the relevant boards, shareholders and authorities.
