Two of the world’s major automotive giants, Renault-Nissan and Daimler AG have signed a historic joint venture agreement.
The wide-ranging agreement covers joint development of passenger cars, commercial vehicles and powertrains.
Next generation Renault Twingo and Smart fortwo models will be co-operatively developed, including electric versions. The two companies will also expand the smart and Twingo families.
The two models will share a common chassis architecture and will be launched in 2013. Two-seater versions will be produced at the Smart plant in Hambach, France while four-seater models will be produced at Renault’s plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.
On the powertrain front, Daimler will supply diesel and petrol engines for Nissan’s luxury Infiniti brand while Renault will supply engines for the next generation of Mercedes-Benz premium compact cars and Vito vans.
A new range of vans is slated for introduction from 2012 and will be manufactured by Renault in Maubeuge, France.
A cross-shareholding structure has been created for an equity exchange between the two corporations.
A key objective of this remarkable alliance is to increase competitiveness of all partners through a substantial increase in volumes, leading to economies of scale and cost sharing in development
