FRANKFURT, July 26 (Reuters) - German trucks and engineering group MAN AG does not need a partner in its commercial vehicles business and is not looking to split up the group, the Financial Times quoted the company's CEO as saying on Monday.
"Of course there are always discussions about that (finding a partner for the trucks business). But our opinion is that we can go ahead alone. And we have said that we can have the same advantages from co-operation deals as we would from merging," MAN Chief Executive Rudolf Rupprecht told the FT.
"One thing is clear. We don't want to split up MAN. So all these discussions and ideas about selling off the trucks, or the rest...that is not the point. If we did that, then MAN would be gone and we are not paid to get rid of MAN." Earlier this month, Hakan Samuelson, a former top manager at MAN's Swedish rival Scania who will take over from Rupprecht as CEO at the beginning of next year, said MAN would remain open to alliances with other European truck makers, including Scania.
The FT also quoted Rupprecht as saying that June had been a "very successful" month and that sales had risen in the double-digits in the first half of the year.