STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Volkswagen truck brand Scania has signed a battery supply deal with Sweden's Northvolt and is in talks about making an equity investment as part of the startup's efforts to raise 1.5 billion euros (1.29 billion pounds), Scania's chief executive said.
CEO Henrik Henriksson told Reuters he could not disclose how much capacity Scania had secured from Northvolt, which said earlier this year that it had sold roughly half of its planned 32 gigawatt capacity a year by 2023.
The company, founded by ex-Tesla executive Peter Carlsson, is seen as a central part of Europe's effort to compete with Asian rivals such as CATL and LG Chem, which have gained a lead by locking in supply deals with carmakers.
(Reporting by Esha Vaish in Stockholm and Arno Schuetze in Frankfurt; editing by Jason Neely)
