Daimler Trucks, a Daimler AG unit, will establish an automated truck research and development center in Portland, Ore.
The facility will focus on developing automated driving systems for its vehicles, with the intention to create self-driving trucks that can potentially address truck driver shortages. Project engineers in Portland will work closely with their counterparts in Stuttgart, Germany, and Bangalore, India, creating a global network.
Daimler Trucks is investing over €2.5 billion in research and development in 2018-2019, more than €500 million of which will go to electro mobility, connectivity and automated commercial vehicle technology.
In relation to this investment, the truck subsidiary set up a global electro mobility group, or EMG, which will focus on consolidating and determining Daimler Trucks' strategy for matters ranging from electrical components to electric vehicles. The EMG will consist of employees across Daimler's development network in Germany, the U.S. and Japan.
Daimler Trucks' North American arm also unveiled two new electric vehicles under its Freightliner brand: the heavy-duty truck Freightliner eCascadia and the medium-duty Freightliner eM2 106. The company plans to hand over around 30 units of the electric models to its first customers in the U.S. before 2018 ends.
Citing Daimler Trucks CEO Martin Daum, Bloomberg News reported that the German parent's plan of partially spinning off the truck subsidiary is entirely up to shareholders and not the management.
"If we don't need the money, why break apart a very successful unit?" Daum reportedly said. Daimler executives are looking into splitting Daimler Trucks and its passenger car division into separate companies as investors claim that the value of the truck business does not show in Daimler's share price.
Nevertheless, Daimler Trucks forecasts a "significant increase" in unit sales and earnings before interest and tax for the current business year. The subsidiary experienced a 21% increase in truck sales in the first quarter of 2018 versus the year-ago period. The company added that it expects an 8% average return on sales, including investment costs in future technologies.
