Daimler Truck AG has acquired a stake in German high-tech machinery manufacturer Manz AG.

Both companies have signed a cooperation agreement on a strategic partnership to establish a pilot line for the production of lithium-ion battery cells and for the assembly of batteries at Daimler Truck’s Mannheim site.

The partnership will see both companies pool their expertise and develop further projects for their joint future, with the aim to develop innovative battery technology and associated production processes for trucks and buses.

Manz AG is a globally active high-tech machine manufacturer with a focus on the automotive industry and electro mobility. The Reutlingen-based company has more than ten years of process and product experience in plant engineering for cell and battery production. With this investment, Daimler Truck is taking a strategically important step in the design of CO₂-neutral transport and in the transformation from conventional drive systems to alternative drive technologies.

The Mercedes-Benz plant Mannheim is the competence centre for battery technologies and high-voltage systems at Daimler Truck. Mannheim already supplies the Mercedes-Benz plant Wörth with battery packs for series production of the all-electric eActros.

In the so-called “InnoLab Battery” in Mannheim, development and production areas work closely together to generate innovative market solutions for trucks and buses. In the future, the company’s own lithium-ion battery cells will be developed here, produced on a pilot line and assembled into complete battery systems.

Over 60 new machines and systems will be set up in the coming months in the approximately 10,000 square meter InnoLab. By the end of 2024, the research findings will be incorporated into the development of Daimler Truck’s battery-electric product platform. The “InnoLab Battery” thus lays the foundation for the future competence of proprietary battery technology within Daimler Truck and generates knowledge for the production of lithium-ion battery cells and their commercial vehicle-specific application. The findings from this lab will also form the basis for future decisions regarding the manufacturing depth for own battery systems.