Volvo Group There is a possibility that the Volvo Group could be one or two of EXRO's NDAs. Sue talks about two NDAs being under an "umbrella". Volvo is a world leader in the manufacture of off-road equipment. The 48V hybrid NDA would fit nicely here. And Volvo is is a leading bus/truck OEM. I believe that Sue said that this NDA used the same CD that was being used in the Linamar collaboration. This would imply a medium duty bus/truck.
Volvo Group owns Nova Bus, which recently was awarded a contract for up to 1229 buses in Quebec . A big number for buses. And Exro once referred to the European NDA in the context of buses alone.
Volvo Defense also builds military vehicles.
The Volvo Group's revenue ($50B) and number of employees (100K) exceed by a wide margin the numbers that EXRO has thrown around (30K/$10B) in the context of the NDA. The former includes both ICE and EV. Perhaps EXRO was talking EV only?
And you can probably find Volvo components in most parking lots.
Volvo is a strong advocate for environmental sustainability, which aligns with EXRO goals. And I vaguely recall seeing a tweet/post? a year ago showing DB (?) at a Volvo booth at an European commercial vehicle trade show. Didn't give it much thought then as the partnering discussions were focused on cars. Anyone else recall that post?
OTOH, EXRO has consistently described the European NDA as a Tier 1 motor supplier. Building motors for your own products is not what I would consider to be a Tier 1 supplier.
If you look at the list of existing European electric buses that are presented in the the May 2023 Sustainable Bus Magazine (pp 50+), you can see that Volvo motors are fitted only in its own brand. Siemens and ZF appear to be the more popular choice for European motor suppliers.
Again, just some fun speculation. If the undisclosed European NDA is not a pure Tier 1 supplier such as Danfoss, but instead, is primarily is an OEM, then the Volvo Group would be a good choice. Almost as good as the Traton Group, which is owned by VW.
This another example of that ambiguity that (might) sometimes exists with EXRO's NRs. Makes the "Name that Tune" game more challenging. :)