(Adds background, analyst comment, pvs dateline STOCKHOLM)
By Nick Tattersall and Patrick McLoughlin
FRANKFURT/STOCKHOLM, April 28 (Reuters) - Swedish truckmaker Scania and German rival MAN said on Monday they had struck a deal to jointly make gearboxes and axles in a move aimed at cutting development costs for the expensive components.
The two groups, which said last month they expected to conclude a components joint venture this year, said production was due to begin after a development phase of about three years.
"With this mutual component supply we can achieve substantial synergies without jeopardising the individuality of our products and their respective strong brand identities," said Hakan Samuelsson, head of MAN's commercial vehicles unit, and Scania Chief Executive Leif Ostling in a joint statement.
The truckmaking sector has seen deep consolidation over recent years and European firms have increasingly been looking to forge component-sharing alliances to cut high costs in a saturated market plagued by dwindling demand.
Neither company was prepared to comment on the potential cost savings or value of the joint venture, although a spokesman for MAN trucks said it was "not a minor deal".
MAN and Scania are both relatively small players in the high-cost heavy trucks sector and analysts said the venture would help both to sustain their presence there without the need for a full-scale merger.
"For Scania it sustains their cost position into the future. Meanwhile MAN can sustain its limited heavy trucks line-up, which pushes the need to merge ever further away," said HVB analyst Albrecht Denninghoff.
Shares in MAN were up 2.9 percent at 16.04 euros by 1340 GMT, while Scania stock was 1.7 percent lower. The DJ European industrials index was up 0.7 percent.
"The two companies have the same basic strategy to focus on the high-end of the trucks market, so in that sense it is good news," said Helaba Trust analyst Erhard Schmitt.
Industry watchers have long speculated that MAN might buy a strategic stake in Scania from Volvo , which has to offload its 45-percent holding by early 2004, although Samuelsson has repeatedly said such a move would make little strategic sense, preferring instead to focus on organic growth.
Scania said the partnership would involve MAN adapting some of its axles and transfer-boxes for use in Scania trucks. Scania would meanwhile adapt some of its gearboxes for MAN vehicles.
Scania, one of the most profitable companies in the truck making industry, said that the EU competition authority would be informed about the agreement.