Volkswagen AG boosted its target for cost cuts at its trucks division to $1.12 billion as cooperation between its Scania and MAN units makes progress, according to a Bloomberg report.
The report states that Scania and MAN, which had previously sought 850 million euros in long-term savings, are combining manufacturing facilities in Russia and have begun working jointly on logistics, IT systems and smaller truck components.
According to the report, VW is reaping about 200 million euros in savings already and “making progress at high speed” toward additional cooperation projects between the German and Swedish units, VW trucks chief Andreas Renschler said, Renschler added that Volkswagen is keeping all its options open for expanding the trucks business in the U.S.
Like its competitors, Volkswagen is attempting to boost data services that are set to become critical for trucking companies in coming years. The effort includes exploring cooperation with HERE, the digital maps company bought last year by sister unit Audi as well as BMW AG and Daimler’s Mercedes. Trucks are particularly well-suited to collecting traffic data because they’re constantly on the road, Renschler said.
Unlike most of its passenger-car siblings, VW’s trucks operation isn’t dealing directly with fallout from the diesel-emissions scandal. Still, the crisis triggered a management revamp at the parent company and accelerated a push begun a year ago to give the automaker’s 12 brands more autonomy.
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