After the end of talks between CNH and FAW for Iveco sale, the spotlight is on Iveco’s various endeavours as the smallest CV maker in Europe.
After the Italian Government signaled that it would oppose the deal, CNH Industrial NV has ended talks to sell its Iveco SpA truck and bus unit to China’s FAW Group Co. Meanwhile, a person familiar with the discussions has revealed that CNH abandoned the talks because the Chinese automotive group didn’t present an acceptable offer for Iveco on the condition that his identity is not divulged. With the deal failing between Iveco and FAW Jiefang, shares of CNH Industrial dropped by a little five-per cent. Said to have been born out of CNH’s 2019 plan to split the industrial equipment and automotive group in two, as talks of a possible sale progressed, FAW is claimed to put the value of the business at Euro 3.5 billion. Listing its lower-margin truck and bus business along with its FPT engine division in an effort to boost asset values and streamline its businesses, CNH, post the failure of sales negotiation is now said to chalking out plans to accelerate the deployment of ever-more sustainable transport solutions and infrastructure in-line with the European Union’s ‘Green Deal’ ambitions. Highlighting the need to protect European manufacturing, the French finance minister Bruno Le Maire is known to have welcomed the decision of CNH to end talks with FAW. The development following a revelation by Italian prime minister Mario Draghi that his government recently blocked a Chinese takeover of an Italian semiconductor company, is being welcomed by the Italian public too claim sources.
Information has emerged that the Turin-based CNH, controlled by Exor, the holding company of Italy’s Agnelli family, was discussing on-and-off for two years with the Chinese company for Iveco sale. The failure of talks with FAW Jiefang has put Italy’s well-regarded truck and bus brand that Iveco is, under the spotlight once again regarding how it charts the course ahead. Said to the smallest among Europe’s traditional truckmakers and competitors like Volkswagen, Daimler and Volvo Group, Iveco, affected by the pandemic, announced a few days before the end of talks with FAW became public, that it has entered into a letter of intent for establishing a business structure for transporting hydrogen via pipeline network from production sources to hydrogen fueling stations in support of Fuel-Cell Electric Vehicles (FCEVs) with OGE. The association, intends to further define and formalise the roles and responsibilities of the parties involved. It also intends to further define collaboration governance of the parties involved such that the objectives are successfully met. Keen to pioneer the manufacture of alternate vehicles, Iveco joined hands with Nikola last year to tap the emerging hydrogen CV market in Europe. It did so amid Hyundai’s aggressive plans and endeavours to push hydrogen trucks into European fleets. Several dozen Hyundai Xcient trucks are already said to be running in real traffic in Europe. In April 2021, Iveco also announced an association with Plus, a leading global autonomous trucking company, to jointly develop autonomous trucks. In February, it signed an agreement to supply 100 S-Way LNG trucks to Italy-based Gruber Logistics. The delivery of the vehicles is scheduled to be completed by the end of
the year.
