A Marriage That Actually Works: Nissan And Daimler Break Taboos, Build Joint Cars

The German edition of the Financial Times has a story about "broken taboos."  It says that "smaller Mercedes models and cars of Nissan's premium division Nissan could together roll off the assembly lines in 2016." The FTD heard that the joint car could be "a small SUV, possibly based on the Mercedes A or B class." Reuters has a good English abstract of the German story.  Apparently, the FTD was asleep when a major busting of taboos was perpetrated in the beginning of the year. In January, TTAC reported an intensification of the hitherto loose partnership between Renault-Nissan and Daimler. This involves joint smart/Twingo production, a new entry-level van built with Renault at its Maubeuge, France plant, more cross-supply of power trains and: "Infiniti plans to base a premium compact vehicle on the Mercedes compact-car architecture, starting in 2014." As reported in May, contract manufacturer Magna Steyr will assemble "a future luxury entry level compact vehicle" for Infiniti, also with a production start in 2014. It stands to reason that these two premium compact vehicles produced in 2014 by Magna Steyr will be somewhat related. An Infiniti  spokeswoman, reached in Infiniti's new global headquarters in Hong Kong,  would not comment on the reports, but said that as far as Infniti is concerned, the alliance with Daimler "is great."  She echoes comments by Renault-Nissan executives, from Carlos Ghosn on down, who praise the alliance with Daimler as "a marriage that actually works." An expansion of the already blooming relationship would be no new breaking of taboos, it would be making more and stronger offsprings. Nissan recruited Audi of Americas president Johan de Nysschen as head of Infiniti. De Nysschen just had his coming out in Pebble Beach and he made no secret of his desire to "join the leadership club of the premium automotive brands" with Infiniti. He answered the softball of whether Infiniti is planning a halo car with a forceful "absolutely" and promised  "a stunningly aspirational Infiniti" for the near future. Like all premium manufacturers, both Daimler and Infiniti are watching the progress of Audi intently. With de Nysschen, they are looking through a magnifying glass . Part of Audi's success lies in the fact that it can partake in the high economies of scale supplied by the Volkswagen Group, while maintaining a high degree of independence. Daimler needs more scale, Infiniti needs more independence. They might just get it through that marriage that actually works. Even if some Germans are worried about broken taboos. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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