Whatever the reason may be, it now seems nearly impossible to build an all-new platform from the ground up without forming a joint venture with another automaker anymore. The benefits are clear: alliances will split the financial obligation halves, technology is shared, a wider model range can apply the new platform, and the product development cycle may stand to shorten as well.
The question is: who best to choose for corporate marriage? For Renault-Nissan and Daimler, future collaborations were planned and prepped since 2010 and projects are taking shape better than expected as the two companies are ready to bring its partnership to the next level.
According to German business daily Financial Times Deutschland (FTD), Daimler is looking to create a compact family vehicle and SUV for both Mercedes-Benz and Renault-Nissan by 2016 in Europe in an effort to reduce development costs and to increase production volume.
Presently, Mercedes-Benz has just released the B-Class compact people carrier as well as the A-Class hatchback. Future additions to the Benz line-up include the CLA small four-door coupe and shooting brake. In fact, the German automaker is determined to sell 500,000 examples of compact cars by 2015, a tall climb over the 178,000 units sold in 2011.
What's more, Mercedes-Benz is looking to build an SUV as well. To assist Mercedes-Benz's expanding product portfolio, Metzler Bank analyst Juergen Pieper believes tapping Nissan's luxury marque Infiniti is the natural course of action, "Nissan is a good, respectable partner. A jointly-built SUV makes good sense. Such customers aren't as sensitive as S-class buyers," he said.
For now, Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti have already confirmed that the future production version of the Infiniti Etherea concept will be based on the Mercedes A-Class platform.
Financial Times Deutschland also noted the two automakers are expected to announce further product development plans by the Paris Motor Show next month.
[Source: AutoNews]
