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Joint ventures are replacing traditional M&A in truck manufacturing, Daimler Truck North America CEO John O'Leary tells Axios Pro.

Why it matters: Some deals are still happening, but JVs allow truck makers to avoid expensive and potentially risky acquisitions in a challenging market.

What we're watching: The maker of Freightliner and Western Star semitrucks remains open to deals but has no immediate plans, O'Leary says.

This Expert Voices interview was edited for length and style.

"Three or four years ago, when it started looking like there would be a lot of technological transformation happening at once — battery electric, hydrogen, continued diesel, connectivity and autonomous — it was like, there's not enough money in the world for any one of us to invest.

That's where we started, all of a sudden, getting into these JVs that we're all in with these strange bedfellows, where PACCAR and us, who kind of loathed each other for a long time, now we're best friends.

Necessity has forced us into that. It's a more intelligent way to deploy capital."

Do all these JVs lower appetite for outright M&A?

"That's definitely the case, and a lot of the M&A that we're talking about are these kind of startups who say, 'We're going to revolutionize,' and then six months later, they're out of business.

That's a pretty high risk proposition, acquiring one of those. When you're doing a JV with a blue-chip company, like a Cummins or a PACCAR or a Volvo, that takes a lot of the risk out, plus everyone's well capitalized.

So we can be pretty serious about what we're putting into the deal, into the JV. So it probably does limit or reduce what otherwise might have been a natural inclination toward M&A."

Does Daimler Truck North America have deals in the pipeline?

"If there's something out there that somebody brings to us or or we dream up, then, yeah, we'll do it. But I'd say there's nothing out there right now that we kind of have on the shelf.

They've all been rather opportunistic. So, we'll see. But we're certainly not opposed."

Joint ventures allow truck makers to slow M&A, Daimler Truck North America CEO says

The maker of Freightliner and Western Star semitrucks remains open to deals but has no immediate plans.

Photo illustration of Daimler Truck North America president and CEO John O'Leary, collaged with abstract shapes.

Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo: Courtesy of Daimler Truck North America

Joint ventures are replacing traditional M&amp;A in truck manufacturing, Daimler Truck North America CEO John O&#x27;Leary tells Axios Pro.Why it matters: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Some deals are still happening" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/pro/supply-chain-deals/2025/07/09/daimler-truck-ag-hino-fuso-deal-2b-euro" data-vars-content-id="2f1815f8-f4a6-490b-874f-15956bdae44d" data-vars-headline="Joint ventures allow truck makers to slow M&amp;A, Daimler Truck North America CEO says" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/pro/supply-chain-deals/2025/07/09/daimler-truck-ag-hino-fuso-deal-2b-euro" target="_self">Some deals are still happening</a>, but JVs allow truck makers to avoid expensive and potentially risky acquisitions in a challenging market.

Joint ventures allow truck makers to slow M&A, Daimler Truck North America CEO says

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