Politics on Wheels

Only three weeks after Chancellor Willy Brandt and Premier Aleksei Kosygin signed the Treaty of Moscow, economic cooperation between West Germany and the Soviet Union was already on the road. West Germany's Daimler-Benz last week confirmed rumors that it is indeed negotiating with the Soviets to build what would be the world's largest truck plant on the banks of the Kama River, 560 miles east of Moscow. The West German automaker also announced that Soviet Automobile Minister Aleksandr Tarasov will go to Stuttgart later this month to discuss the project. As a spokesman for Daimler-Benz put it: "Good economic relations can be the foundation for improvement of the political situation."

Daimler-Benz, Western Europe's largest manufacturer of heavy trucks, as well as the producer of the elegant Mercedes automobiles, is trying to line up a consortium of Common Market truck makers for the Soviet project. Discussions are already under way with France's Renault. Another likely member is Italy's Fiat, which is building a huge auto plant in Stavropol, which was renamed Togliatti in honor of the late Italian Communist leader. Daimler-Benz wants help in financing the $1.09 billion project; the Soviets will repay the loan over a long term at rates to be settled later.

More important than financing, however, is the fact that Brandt's government does not want the German company making deals alone with the Soviets. By organizing a West European consortium, Bonn wants to emphasize to the Soviets that its own economy is completely interwoven with that of the European Economic Community and thus discourage possible Soviet notions about luring West Germany into a neutralist position with economic deals. Also, by bringing in other European firms, the West Germans hope to reduce the offense to Washington, which had applied pressure on Henry Ford II to turn down a similar Soviet offer.

At present, the Soviets produce 500,000 trucks per year, but 90% of these are light models of three-ton capacity or less. They badly need a modern plant such as the Kama River facility, which would turn out 150,000 huge diesel-driven trucks annually. They could also use an infusion of Western European skills to improve the engineering of their trucks, whose tendency to break down has long been a grim joke among the Russians.

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