By Joseph White
DETROIT, Sept 25 (Reuters) - Commercial truck partners Navistar International Corp and Volkswagen AG's Truck and Bus said on Monday they will collaborate to launch an electric medium duty truck in North America by late 2019, and to develop common hardware and systems to connect trucks to the internet.
Volkswagen Truck chief Andreas Renschler and Navistar Chief Executive Troy Clarke told Reuters in an interview the companies also plan to collaborate on the next generation of "Big Bore" diesel powertrains. Volkswagen last year agreed to buy a 16.6 percent stake in Navistar, based in Lisle, Ill. The companies closed the transaction and began collaborating earlier this year.
The new electric truck for North America will be a Class 6 or 7 truck based on a Navistar vehicle, and aimed at urban delivery customers. Volkswagen will test nine electric trucks in Austria that will offer payloads of about 18 tons and ranges of about 180 kilometers between charges, Renschler said. Rival Daimler AG said last week delivered the first of a smaller range of electric delivery trucks to customers in New York.
(Reporting By Joe White; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)