OREANDA-NEWS. June 29, 2012.  Daimler Trucks and the Russian truck manufacturer Kamaz have intensified their strategic partnership, which was established in 2008. On the sidelines of the Kamaz Annual Shareholders’ Meeting in Naberezhnye Chelny in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan, representatives of the two companies today signed a licensing agreement that will result in greater collaboration on the production of truck cabs. In the future, Mercedes-Benz will supply Axor cabs to Kamaz, which the Russian company will incorporate it into its new generation of trucks in 2013. “Our modular system is once again paying off. We strengthen our partner’s competitiveness with our technology,” said Andreas Renschler, the Daimler Board of Management Member responsible for Daimler Trucks and Daimler Buses, on the occasion of the licensing agreement.

The agreement is based on a Memorandum of Understanding concluded between Daimler Trucks and Kamaz in September 2011, which stated that the two companies would begin cooperating on truck cabs in the second half of 2012. According to Hubertus Troska, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, the new agreement demonstrates that the two companies have a close and trusting partnership. “We’re especially delighted that we will be able to cooperate even more closely in the future and that thanks to our strong partner, we will be ideally equipped to benefit from the growth of Europe’s largest truck market.” Sergey Kogogin, Director General of Kamaz, added: “The expanded partnership allows us to further modernize our trucks and at the same time optimally adapt them to Russian market requirements.”

The licensing agreement stipulates that Mercedes-Benz will supply Kamaz with several cabs this year, which the Russian company will install into prototype vehicles. In the following years, Mercedes-Benz will then deliver individual components, which will be assembled at the Kamaz production plant in Chelny in the Russian Republic of Tatarstan. Over time, an increasing share of the components will be produced locally. The partners’ long-term goal is to sell more than 20,000 vehicles equipped with the cab.

The strategic partnership between Daimler Trucks and Kamaz was established in 2008. The joint ventures Mercedes-Benz Trucks Vostok (MBTV) and Fuso Kamaz Trucks Rus. (FKTR) commenced operations a little less than two years later. The partnership has since then grown and prospered on several levels. Since its inauguration, the MBTV plant in Chelny has manufactured Mercedes-Benz Actros, Axor, and Atego trucks in series production. FKTR produces the Fuso Canter light truck in Russia. Daimler AG and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development have jointly held 15 percent of the shares in Kamaz since they increased their stake in the Russian company in June 2010.