It appears as if Daimler and Renault-Nissan will be announcing another super-alliance tomorrow, following closely on the heels of the Volkswagen / Suzuki Eurasian powerhouse.
Renault Chairman/CEO Carlos Ghosn and Daimler CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche will be on-hand to clarify the specifics of the potential deal at a press conference in Brussels, Belgium.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Renault and Nissan may buy into Daimler by as much as 3-4% each. On the opposite side of the coin, Daimler will buy into both Nissan and Renault with "similar or slightly larger stakes", a method called cross-shareholding.
Other plans rumored to be discussed tomorrow are joint-research programs regarding hybrid/electric/alternative fuel technologies, splitting vehicle development costs, and co-development of platforms for the firms' small cars (e.g. Daimler's Smart line and Renault's Twingo).
Business Week goes on to speculate that Mercedes may go so far as to offer power trains for Nissan's luxury marque, Infiniti. If that were to happen, Infiniti would be one step closer to battling Lexus for top-tier Japanese luxury car status. But how would Mercedes feel about helping the pseudo-competition so directly?
Expect official updates tomorrow.
By Phil Alex
