DaimlerChrysler AG plans to form a truck joint venture with Hyundai Motor are on ice because of stalled labour talks, a spokesman told Dow Jones on Friday.
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“The latest thing we’ve heard is that they (the Korean unions) have cut off talks,” Othmar Stein, a spokesman for DaimlerChrysler’s Commercial Vehicles division, told the news agency, adding: “We’re watching and waiting.”
Dow Jones said an agreement with unions representing workers of Hyundai’s truck division is the last remaining hurdle to the deal – a Thursday meeting between Hyundai and Korean union officials was cancelled.
DaimlerChrysler, which isn’t directly involved in the talks, wasn’t aware of a new meeting, the report said.
Depending on the concessions Hyundai makes, the settlement of the labour dispute could add new complications to the deal with DaimlerChrysler, Dow Jones said.
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By GlobalData“We’ll be discussing with them (Hyundai) the outcome (of the labour talks),” Stein told the news agency.
Dow Jones said the DaimlerChrysler-Hyundai joint venture has been delayed for months by union demands for job guarantees and financial perks.
DaimlerChrysler already owns 10% of Hyundai and is seeking to deepen its relationship with Korea’s dominant vehicle maker by forming a 50/50 truck joint venture, Dow Jones noted, adding that the partnership with Hyundai would be the last piece in DaimlerChrysler’s ambitious expansion of its truck business.
The Stuttgart-based company has built up the world’s largest truck making operations by acquisitions and partnerships stretching from the US to China, the report noted.
