The Renault-Nissan Alliance has expanded after it inked a three-way partnership with Daimler AG for sharing the development of next-generation small car technologies and powertrains for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles.
Under the agreement, Renault-Nissan will co-develop and share petrol and diesel engines for the next-generation smart fortwo and Renault Twingo as well as for the new generation of compact cars from Mercedes-Benz. The French-Japanese alliance will also share diesel engines and transmission with the German carmaker's Vito light van. In return, Mercedes-Benz will provide petrol and diesel engines to Infiniti, Nissan's luxury car division.
An equity exchange sealed the partnership with Renault-Nissan getting a 3.1-percent stake in Daimler AG. The German carmaker gets a 3.1-percent stake in Renault and another 3.1-percent stake in Nissan.
"Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance are combining common interests to form a promising foundation for a successful, strategically sound cooperation that is based on a number of very concrete and attractive project cooperations," Daimler AG chairman Dieter Zetsche said in a statement.
Zetsche assured that while the carmakers will be sharing architecture on brand-typical products to strengthen their competitiveness in the small and compact car segments while reducing their carbon dioxide footprint, the identities of the brands "will remain unaffected."
"This agreement will extend our strategic collaboration and create lasting value for the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler as we work on broadening and strengthening our product offering, efficiently utilizing all available resources and developing the innovative technologies required in the coming decade," said Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive officer of the Renault-Nissan Alliance.
