Daimler and Volvo announce truck tech partnership
Daimler and Volvo announce truck tech partnership
A paper by Jason Cannon
Aloha
I thought that I should share this across our blog community because of what this represented.
Volvo and Daimler sharing software is a truly significant happening. I congratulate them for thinking about their customers first.
If only there was a standard platform for all equipment manufacturers so allow their customers to select software that they want to track all of their equipment regardless of brand. Think about the possibilities. Electronic Catalogues. Standard Times for Repairs and Maintenance. Instructions on performing repairs. Special glasses like BMW Augmented Reality from the 1990’s to talk to a technician performing a repair and telling them the tools to use, the specification, the repair steps all with graphics on the glasses. Just imagine that.
Daimler and Volvo announce truck tech partnership.
By Jason Cannon
Volvo Group and Daimler Truck have reached a preliminary agreement to establish a joint venture to develop a common software-defined vehicle platform and dedicated truck operating system, which the companies expect will provide the basis for future software-defined commercial vehicles and make the new joint venture a leading developer of standardized hardware and software.
This technical basis, the companies said, will then enable Volvo Group and Daimler Truck – 50/50 partners in the joint venture – and potentially other partners to provide “differentiating digital vehicle features for its products, ultimately enhancing customer efficiency and experience.” The joint venture is set to be headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden, incorporating existing assets and resources of both companies into the new organization. The goal, both stakeholders said, is “to set the industry standard for a truck operating system and offer its products to other OEMs as well. To that end the joint venture will provide a common developer platform as a service, on top of which its customers can build differentiating software layers.”
The two commercial truck giants in 2020 established a joint venture to develop hydrogen fuel cells. That joint venture, named cellcentric, included operations in Nabern, Germany, headquarters of the Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell, with production facilities in Germany and Canada.
“Given the rapid transformation of our industry, it makes sense to collaborate to accelerate development, increase volumes and share costs. Software-defined heavy-duty trucks represent a paradigm shift in the transformation of our industry,” said Martin Lundstedt, Volvo Group president and CEO. “Making the truck a programmable device with standardized hardware and operating system for fast product updates will give both companies the opportunity to create value for our customers and their customers though differentiating digital services and solutions. Partnership is truly the new leadership.”
The Volvo Group and Daimler Truck venture will operate as an independent entity, with the two continuing to be competitors in all other areas of business.
Jason Cannon has written about trucking and transportation for more than a decade and serves as Chief Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. A Class A CDL holder, Jason is a graduate of the Porsche Sport Driving School, an honorary Duckmaster at The Peabody in Memphis, Tennessee, and a purple belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. Reach him at jasoncannon@randallreilly.com.