Daimler Truck, the Volvo Group, and the Toyota Motor Corporation have signed an agreement for Toyota's entry into the fuel cell specialist Cellcentric. The companies announced this on July 27, 2026. Upon completion of the transaction, each of the three corporations will hold one-third of the shares in Cellcentric. The agreement follows a letter of intent from the end of March 2026, which H2international has already reported on. The completion is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected by the end of 2026 or early 2027, according to the companies involved.
The goal: strengthen market position in heavy commercial vehicles
By expanding the circle of shareholders, the partners aim to enhance Cellcentric's position as a developer and manufacturer of fuel cell systems for heavy commercial applications. The announcement states that a collaboration on equal terms is sought. The objectives are technological leadership, industrial scaling, and the company's competitiveness in the heavy commercial vehicle segment. Furthermore, the partners aim to advance the development of a hydrogen ecosystem. They rely on collaboration with industry associations and other stakeholders along the hydrogen value chain to support the development of supply and infrastructure.
The Japanese Toyota corporation is among the pioneers of fuel cell technology in the automotive industry and brings extensive experience from series production of fuel cell systems – including from the passenger car sector and commercial vehicle collaborations in Japan and North America. For the heavy commercial vehicle sector, the merger promises a pooling of development expertise from Europe, North America, and Asia.
Cellcentric remains an independent company
Cellcentric will continue to operate as an independent and autonomously managed company even after Toyota's entry. The company serves a broad customer spectrum. According to the announcement, this includes applications in heavy road freight transport, off-road areas, and other heavy-duty fields such as coaches, stationary power generation, rail vehicles, and heavy machinery. In all other business areas, Daimler Truck, Volvo, and Toyota will continue to compete independently.
Cellcentric is a joint venture founded in 2021 by Daimler Truck and the Volvo Group. The company develops, produces, and markets fuel cell systems for use in heavy commercial vehicles and applications with similar requirements. According to its own statements, Cellcentric employs more than 560 people at locations in Kirchheim/Teck, Esslingen, Stuttgart, and Burnaby, Canada. Around 700 individual patents underscore Cellcentric's role in fuel cell development, according to the company. The declared goal is to become a leading global manufacturer and Tier-1 supplier of fuel cell systems.
More about the new fuel cell drive module from Cellcentric can be found here in the video.
