Volkswagen AG took control of Swedish truck maker Scania AB last week, as the global truck-building industry continues a trend of consolidation.

The €2.88 billion ($4.37 billion) deal "could make VW a credible global competitor to rivals Daimler AG and AB Volvo," reports the Wall Street Journal. VW will hold 68.6 percent of the Scania voting shares.
The deal also could mean a broader truck alliance between Volkswagen and MAN AG's truck businesses. Volkswagen has a nearly 30 percent stake in MAN. MAN, in turn, has built a 17 percent stake of Scania voting shares, and last year tried a hostile takover of Scania that failed.
A three-way merger between VW, Scania and MAN would make it Europe's largest truck maker, Bloomberg reported.
The deal likely will have little impact on North America, according to Heavy Duty Trucking Executive Editor Steve Sturgess. "While VW is a constructor of heavy trucks, with the lion's share of the heavy duty market in Brazil and some exports to the Middle East and South Africa, that's the extent of its heavy duty business to date. The German company doesn't seem overly keen to expand in to other truck markets with its Constellation model. As for Scania, it got a serious bruising in North America when it took a run at the market here in the early-mid '80s. Scania makes arguably the best truck in the world, but it couldn't get the dealers and distribution right."
Up in the air is what this might mean for MAN's deal with International. It could clear the way for a tighter alliance, Sturgess says, on top of the engine agreement that has produced the 11- and 13-liter MaxxForce, due to start production this year. However, there also are rumors of some type of deal between Caterpillar and International.