Eight screws, a screwdriver and two small red number plates – these items are essential to get your self-driving truck onto public roads. At a ceremony in Las Vegas, Nevada’s state governor handed over the first autonomous vehicle plates for a commercial truck to the head of Daimler Trucks, Wolfgang Bernhard. Daimler may have wanted a three-pointed star on the front of its Inspiration Truck, but with cautious European governments dragging their heels over regulation, Freightliner got the gig in a state that is keen to maintain its lead in the autonomous vehicle development race.
The Mercedes-Benz self-driving truck was first unveiled last year on a closed section of road in Germany. The Freightliner Inspiration Truck is the latest iteration of Daimler’s self-driving truck technology, and the first of two that will be allowed to operate – with human driver supervision – alongside other vehicles on the streets of Nevada.
Daimler may have wanted a three-pointed star on its Inspiration Truck, but Freightliner got the gig in a state keen to maintain its lead in the autonomous vehicle development race
While Daimler’s truck division prepares for a future of autonomous trucks, VW is also preparing to give its trucks a degree of autonomy. Years of attempts to bring Scania and MAN together under one roof culminated this week at the highly anticipated VW shareholder meeting, when the company confirmed the creation of VW Truck & Bus GmbH, a new holding group for the company’s commercial vehicle brands, headed up by former Daimler Trucks executive, Andreas Renschler.
Now, from within its mixed portfolio of brands, we begin to see some clarity and strategic truck thinking at VW. Truck & Bus will have strong links to the VW group: the board will include not only Renschler and Martin Winterkorn, but also the head of VW’s works council, Bernd Osterloh. And VW’s light commercial vehicle interests will be moved into Truck & Bus; reporting to Renschler, the LCV operations will maintain technology ties to the company’s car operations.
By adopting a strong leadership structure for its truck operations, VW is pushing for management stability; remember, the company has just been through a potentially damaging leadership struggle, and Scania currently has no permanent Chief Executive, having lost Martin Lundstedt to AB Volvo.
Renschler will be at pains to see his truck group develop into one that can compete with his former employer. There was no mention of chasing volumes; instead, the focus is on reaching the top of the industry in terms of profitability, technologies and customer satisfaction. It’s early days, and questions still remain, including the perennial “how can VW compete globally without a US truck presence?” and “Can VW succeed in making Scania and MAN work harmoniously together?”
Now, from within its mixed portfolio of brands, we begin to see some clarity and strategic truck thinking at VW
Renowned for its proud culture of independence, Scania has done its best to beat its own path even under VW control – consider that surprising recent Oshkosh announcement. In a statement, Renschler said the MAN and Scania brands would retain their independence. Yet it’s difficult to imagine an aligned Truck & Bus not seeking an alignment of under-skin technologies, intellectual property and combined purchasing power. This may not be to satisfaction of the individual members, but for Volkswagen, the ultimate target is a whole greater than the sum of the individual parts.
Renschler will be watching his ex-colleagues closely; as Daimler’s Inspiration Truck shows, there are considerable benefits to sharing technology across a portfolio of brands.
[divider]
Martin Kahl is Editor, Automotive World
The AutomotiveWorld.com Comment column is open to automotive industry decision makers and influencers. If you would like to contribute a Comment article, please contact editorial@automotiveworld.com
