Bernd Pischetsrieder’s resignation from Volkswagen on Tuesday is the latest spanner in the works for the potential three-way combination of Sweden’s Scania, Germany’s MAN and VW’s heavy truck division. It was already looking messy. On the same day, Investor, the investment vehicle of Sweden’s Wallenberg family, raised its stake in Scania, which is defending itself against a bid from MAN. Along with holdings through family trusts, the Wallenbergs now have one-third of the voting rights – sufficient to block a merger, though MAN could still gain majority control.

This has strengthened the Wallenbergs’ negotiating position in two ways. First, they can now push for a substantially higher price for the voting shares – at least the SKr519 they paid for shares on Tuesday, rather than the originally mooted SKr475. However, this starts to make a deal look expensive for MAN. Second, the Wallenbergs now have greater leverage to argue for other concessions, bearing in mind their belief in Scania’s superior management, margins and growth prospects.