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Munich (dpa) - The VW Group not only wants to have its cars, but also its heavy MAN and Scania trucks in long-distance transport with battery-electric drives in the future.
After the competitors Daimler and Volvo had just agreed to jointly develop hydrogen drives for trucks, the head of the VW truck holding Traton, Matthias Gründler, said on Monday in Munich: "Traton is clearly relying on the electric truck."
Traton will invest 1.6 billion euros in research and development for e-mobility by 2025 instead of the previously planned 1 billion euros.
All brands are now shifting their budgets from conventional to electric motors.
"Traton is going electric," said Gründler.
Scania will introduce a 13-liter diesel engine this year and MAN in 2024, but “this will be the last major project we will do.
We will not develop a new generation. "
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Scania plans to sell every tenth vehicle with an electric drive in Europe by 2025, and every second by 2030.
"At MAN, at least 60 percent of the trucks for delivery traffic and 40 percent of the trucks for long-distance transport will then be emission-free," said the VW holding company.
However, an extra fast charging network for electric trucks must also be set up in Europe: This is "the greatest challenge," said the CEO.
E-trucks now cost more than twice as much as diesel trucks, and "the acquisition costs will continue to be significantly higher," said Gründler.
But in terms of operating costs, “they will be cheaper from 2025”.
Purchase premiums, taxes and CO2 tolls could accelerate the changeover.
With the battery cells, Traton also wants to use the synergies in the VW Group, which has announced the construction of its own cell factories.
Traton will sell diesel trucks for as long as customers want them.
Hydrogen trucks should also establish themselves on the market in the next ten years, said Gründler.
“We will also offer this technology”, but only in niches, for example for cement mixers or for long-distance coaches, which cannot charge enough electricity during the breaks.
The hydrogen truck is much less efficient and much more expensive than the battery truck, and a hydrogen filling station network is more expensive to set up than an e-charging network.
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Traton closed the past year with a decline in sales of 16 percent to 22.6 billion euros and a loss of 124 million euros.
In the current year, the commercial vehicle holding is aiming for a strong increase in sales and revenue.
CFO Christian Schulz also emphasized the risks posed by the corona pandemic and the insecure supply of semiconductors.
The restructuring of MAN with the reduction of 3,500 jobs is expected to cost more than half a billion euros.
For the large truck plant in Steyr, Austria, “we are in discussion with an investor” - we will know more in four to six weeks, said Gründler.
With the takeover of the US truck manufacturer Navistar in the middle of the year, Tratron finally wants to have a presence in the US market, where a third of the industry's global profits are generated.
Talks were held with Navistar about products and components.
In China, Traton has a stake in the truck manufacturer Sinotruk.
Scania plans to open a truck factory near Shanghai next year.
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© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210322-99-923337 / 3
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