Swedish truckmaker Scania will develop new truck cabs with Porsche Engineering, in another step toward firming up ties under the Volkswagen umbrella.

German auto group Volkswagen holds a majority voting stake in Scania and late last year took control of Porsche, with an eye to completing a merger with the luxury carmaker in 2011.

Scania said on Monday the two companies would develop the next generation of cab frames for its heavy-duty trucks.

We will develop a cab frame together that is optimized for Scania's requirements on styling and functionality, as well as for rational production, said Per Hallberg, Scania's head of research and development.

Porsche spokesman Dirk Erat said: This is not the first time Porsche Engineering has been contracted to work for a truckmaker. It already has been involved in some work for the industry, such as in Eastern Europe.

Volkswagen has in recent years pushed for closer ties between Scania and another company in which it has a stake, German truckmaker MAN. Volkswagen owns shares equal to 71 percent of Scania votes and nearly 30 percent of MAN's.

Last month, Scania said it would study several areas of collaboration with MAN SE, including gear boxes and axles, as the companies thawed out relations badly frayed by a failed 2006 takeover attempt by the German truckmaker.

(Additional reporting by Christiaan Hetzner in Frankfurt; Editing by Sharon Lindores)

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