TOKYO, Jan 21 (Reuters) - The head of Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp, the newly spun-off unit of Japanese automaker Mitsubishi Motors Corp , said on Tuesday it had no plans to offer its shares to the public.
The truck and bus business, spun off on January 6, has been viewed as the most attractive segment of Mitsubishi's operations. The unit has expanded its share of the domestic truck market for seven straight years despite a downturn in overall demand.
"It doesn't make any sense," President and Chief Executive Wilfried Porth said when asked by a reporter whether the unit planned to go public. "We already have access to two big groups (of shareholders), so we're alright in terms of funding."
DaimlerChrysler AG will take 43 percent ownership of the company in March for about 760 million euros ($812 million), while Mitsubishi Motors will take 42 percent. The rest will be owned by other Mitsubishi group firms.
"It's not an ideal situation for Mitsubishi Motors, but the arrangement is inevitable since there have to be benefits for DaimlerChrysler in entering the deal," said Shotaro Noguchi, an analyst at Nikko Salomon Smith Barney.
With the new structure, Fuso and DaimlerChrysler, which has a controlling 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors, plan to form a closer partnership by sharing development costs, research facilities, components and parts.
Porth told a news conference that the two would draw up a plan to tackle the Chinese commercial vehicle market with South Korea's Hyundai Motor Co , owned 10 percent by DaimlerChrysler, to make full use of their alliance.
"Two of the world's five biggest truckmakers are Chinese, so anyone starting operations there will have a tough time," he said. "To come up with a China strategy, we want to consult with DaimlerChrysler and Hyundai."
DaimlerChrysler, the world's largest commercial trucks maker, recently formed a joint venture with Hyundai and Mitsubishi Motors to operate a new engine plant in the United States.
Shares in Mitsubishi Motors ended up 4.4 percent at 285 yen, cheered by a near one-yen jump in the dollar to 118.80 yen from early lows in Asia. Among its peers, Mitsubishi relies especially heavily on North America for its profits.
The Nikkei 225 share average gained 1.75 percent. ($1=.9359 euro)