STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) - Daimler AG's trucks business would love to enter the high-growth Chinese market, but the laborious process of winning government approval for joint ventures is holding things up.
"Unfortunately, the negotiations with the government are not as fast as the market growth," Daimler Trucks head Andreas Renschler told reporters at the official media unveiling of the third-generation Mercedes-Benz Actros heavy truck.
His company has been in joint venture talks with Foton, China's largest light truckmaker, since 2003, and both sides have agreed to cooperate on medium- to heavy-duty trucks.
"Mr. Wang, the CEO of Foton, is tilting with the bureaucratic windmills just like we are," Renschler explained, citing his partner's need to gain access to Daimler's low-emissions technology.
Daimler is not the only one who will likely have to wait, since Sweden's Volvo AB
China is extremely attractive for truckmakers since the overall market there more than doubled to 1.45 million units between 2000 and 2006, and the segment for heavy trucks grew by nearly 60 percent last year.
"So far there is not a single European manufacturer that has been able to get something going in China for this very reason. We all have partners," the Daimler Trucks boss said.
"In China you are dependent on conditions that you cannot influence. You have a new election, someone is replaced, then a successor comes wanting to do things differently ... the laws change."
By contrast, Daimler plans to enter the Indian market, which is expected to grow by 7 percent annually to 500,000 units in 2018, after signing a joint venture agreement in December 2007 with local partner Hero. It expects government approval by the end of the first quarter this year.
Renschler said the U.S. truck market was suffering under current economic conditions, but he remained confident of a recovery in the second half of the year as customers placed orders ahead of new emissions regulations that take effect on Jan 1, 2010.
Daimler Trucks has more than 50 plants on five continents selling five distinct brands.
(Reporting by Christiaan Hetzner, editing by Will Waterman)
