Bmw Mercedes Soon To Join Forces?
Weve always known MercedesBenz and BMW to be the archrivals in the ubercar market department; in fact most of us prefer these two great European automakers locked in a perpetual battle as to who comes up with the most luxurious car the smoothest performance the neatest incar gadgets or the best auto parts from the engine down to the Mercedes or BMW camshafts.
But it looks like in the everchanging car industry no rivalries are really sacred.
BMW has recently expressed hope to join forces with DaimlerChrysler and the PSA Peugeot Citroen Group in the development of a hybrid technology as well as for a new transmission and engine technology.
BMW Exec Klaus Draeger in an interview with Auto Motor und Sport revealed that component sharing between the three carmakers would not be impossible within the next four years. He however discounted plans for common platforms.
With PSA Draeger hopes to see further cooperation in engine development referring to the deal it shared for the new Mini engine as an example of the success that could be achieved. According to Draeger technology sharing can be done without compromising brandspecific characteristics of the engines.
BMWs Marketing Chief Michael Ganal has also confirmed BMWs interest in working with MercedesBenz. Cooperation is the right approach because it allows both carmakers entrepreneurial freedom Ganal reportedly told German newspaper Wirtschaftswoche.
Ganal did not say in which areas the cooperation between the two companies will increase but said there are several possibilities.
Unfortunately for Draeger and Ganal though MercedesBenz has earlier rejected a prior proposal from BMW that the two luxury carmakers should work more closely in the future as revealed by Mercedes marketing Chieft Klaus Maier.
Maier in an interview with Handelsblatt acknowledged that the two had worked together in the past commenting we cooperate naturally with BMW in a few technical areas like development of hybrid engines. The consensus in the Mercedes boardroom however is that there are no plans to work together beyond the current codevelopment of hybrid drivetrains.
There are rumors though suggesting that Mercedes may work with BMW for the production of the nextgeneration AClass on the Mini platform from Beemer’s Oxford factory.
Reuters citing German motor magazine Auto Bild is reporting that BMW the world’s largest premium carmaker and its closest rival MercedesBenz are currently in negotiations over a partnership to build subcompact cars.
According to the report the two companies are expected to make a decision in July on whether to build the next generation Mercedes AClass on BMW’s Mini platform.
A partnership with another automaker will benefit BMW since the heavy cost pressure could result in the loss of money for Mini should its Oxford England plant not run at full capacity.
Meanwhile Mercedes has plans of building the next AClass in 2012 on a platform to be developed jointly with Chrysler. These plans however have been sacked after parent DaimlerChrysler’s disposal of its majority stake in the moneylosing U.S. carmaker.
About the writer: Hailey Kerr is a Business Administration graduate. She is currently part of a business consulting firm in Massachusetts. Hailey loves to write and enjoys doing her favorite hobby during her free time cooking French cuisines.
Related posts:
