Daimler Truck will become a major anchor shareholder in German high-tech engineering company Manz through a capital increase of around ten percent, subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities. Within the framework of this partnership, both companies will pool their expertise and develop further projects for their joint future. The aim is to develop innovative battery technology and associated production processes for trucks and buses.

Manz is a globally active high-tech machine manufacturer with a focus on the automotive industry and electromobility. The Reutlingen-based company has more than ten years of process and product experience in plant engineering for cell and battery production. With this investment, Daimler Truck is taking a strategically important step in the design of CO2-neutral transport and in the transformation from conventional drive systems to alternative drive technologies.

Dr Andreas Gorbach, member of the management board of Daimler Truck Holding AG and in this function responsible for truck technology: “The partnership between Daimler Truck and Manz forms an essential cornerstone of our battery strategy. We aim to be the innovation leader in the commercial vehicle industry. To do so, it is fundamental to have battery cells that meet the extremely specific requirements in trucks and buses. The prerequisite for this is the very close integration of product development and the development of production processes. Together with Manz, we will shape this requirement – our pilot line for the production of battery cells at the Mercedes-Benz plant Mannheim is a key step in this direction.”

The Mercedes-Benz plant Mannheim is the competence center for battery technologies and high-voltage systems at Daimler Truck. Mannheim already supplies the Mercedes-Benz plant Wörth with battery packs for series production of the all-electric eActros.

Further reading: Maximilian Wegener (Manz): Energy Storage, Lasered! In the production equipment for lithium-ion batteries, laser processes are becoming increasingly important, PhotonicsViews 16(4), August/September 2019, 40–43; DOI: 10.1002/phvs.201900037