Nissan-Renault-Daimler Alliance Announced

[dmuramoto]

This has been talked about for awhile, but just confirmed. Renault (Nissan's alliance partner) will cooperate with Daimler (Mercedes-Benz) in Europe and this means Nissan will have access to the entire range of Mercedes engines for North America.

Why is this big news? Since many Mercedes four and six-cylinder gas and diesel engines have already gone through the expensive EPA/DOT testing cycle, Nissan can readily adapt them to future products. Infiniti will have a broader range of powerplants to choose from and this move should help them have a broader reach in the near term.

Daimler and Renault will save billions on the development of small cars in Europe, and we may see some of those models here in the U.S. This is NOT a merger, however (Daimler learned THAT lesson with Chrysler). We'll continue to see very separate and distinct models for each company, but research and development costs will go down and hopefully, create better (and cheaper) cars for each of the alliance partners.

Here's a link for more info:

http://www.autonews.com/apps/p.../1193

[dmuramoto]

Another potential application for an existing Mercedes powerplant for North America is the upcoming Nissan Commerial Vehicle line. The NV200 and NV250 plan to use existing VQ V-6 and VK V-8 gas engines, but having a TT Bluetec diesel option might broaden its appeal nicely.

You can bet the cable/phone lines (as well as airline tickets) are flowing between the engineers, product planners and marketing folks at Daimler and Nissan!

[SteveTheTech]

This is actually a very interesting deal they have struck. People are instantly polarized once you mention the Japanese and Germans are teaming up...again. Fortunate for us the are planning world domination via our automobiles.

Having two technological leader in share some intellectual properties and powerplant technology might be extremely beneficial. As Dave brought to light the EPA has already tested many MB engine and those that will require testing will have a shared financial burden so that (theoretically at least) less of the burden will be passed on to the consumer.

While it is highly unlikely we will ever see an AMG powered G (although the TT V12 makes me salivate) the door is open now to share in the commercial truck market. It was not long ago we were all talking about a deal with Daimlers last "partner" to build trucks together, well we all now see how that worked out.

Think about the technology Nissan has brought to market recently...Couple that with MBs international dominance in the small diesel market and established supply infrastructure.

http://nissannews.com/newsrelease.do?id=1431&mid=2

[audtatious]

Should be quite interesting to see what motor options are the result of this alliance across the whole model lines in the next few years.