Toyota, Daimler Truck Forging New Venture to Bolster Margins

Toyota Motor Corp. and Daimler Truck have agreed to merge their truck manufacturing subsidiaries, Hino Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus, to boost margins and develop new technologies such as alternative fuels and autonomous driving.

The four companies signed a memorandum of understanding to bring Hino and Mitsubishi Fuso under a single company, jointly owned by Toyota and Daimler Truck, according to a statement Tuesday. Combined, they would have about ¥2.2 trillion ($15.7 billion) in sales, based on results from their latest fiscal years, with a total of roughly 45,000 employees.

The head of the four companies, Hino’ Satoshi Ogiso, from left, Toyota’s Koji Sato, Mitsubishi Fuso’s Karl Deppen and Daimler Truck’s Martin Daum during a news conference on May 30.

Photographer: Toru Hanai/Bloomberg

The holding company combining Hino ...