Daimler, Nissan Consider Co-Developing Small Cars
A partnership between Daimler and Renaut- Nissan might soon bear fruit in the form of an expanded compact lineup.
According to unnamed sources cited by Financial Times Deutschland, the cars might be built jointly from 2016 in Eastern Europe including a small Mercedes SUV built beside vehicles from Infiniti.
Already angling toward small cars with appeal to younger buyers, Mercedes brought its new A-Class to Geneva this year marking a stronger emphasis on he entry-level market. Still, the company’s line is light on vehicles appealing to that segment, which is something the Nissan partnership could help.
Mercedes expects to boost its annual compact car sales from 178,000 last year to 500,000 in 2015 according to IHS Automotive. That’s a big jump – even for a company like Daimler – which is where cross co-operation comes into play. It’s a common play among automakers hoping to leverage buying power and resources through partnerships.
Nissan, on the other hand, hopes to build compacts under its Infiniti brand based on the Mercedes A- and B-Class cars that would be assembled by Austrian company Magna Steyr starting in 2014.
GALLERY: Mercedes-Benz A-Class
[Source: Automotive News]
Luke is an energetic automotive journalist who spends his time covering industry news and crawling the internet for the latest breaking story. When he isn't in the office, Luke can be found obsessively browsing used car listings, drinking scotch at his favorite bar and dreaming of what to drive next, though the list grows a lot faster than his bank account. He's always on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> looking for a good car conversation. Find Luke on <A title="@lukevandezande on Twitter" href="http://twitter.com/lukevandezande">Twitter</A> and <A title="Luke on Google+" href="http://plus.google.com/112531385961538774338?rel=author">Google+</A>.
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