Daimler, Renault-Nissan extend manufacturing alliance

• Daimler AG and Renault-Nissan are extending a manufacturing alliance, the two carmakers said on Friday, adding that there were no limits to how the co-operation could evolve.

“We maintain the attitude that everything is on the table. There are no sacred cows,” Renault SA chief Carlos Ghosn said at a news conference with Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche at the Paris auto show.

Both executives said projects under the alliance had ballooned from the three planned initially to 12 now and, according to Mr. Ghosn, were yielding significant cost savings in excess of 2-billion.

Mercedes, Nissan and Renault have shared engines, plants and vehicle underpinnings for small cars since Mr. Zetsche and Mr. Ghosn forged an alliance in 2010, cemented by token reciprocal shareholdings.

The pact is one of the few remaining alliances between a volume and a premium car- maker that has survived, in contrast to Daimler’s messy divorce with Chrysler LLC and BMW’s sale of Rover.

The companies said the alliance was being extended to include engines, gearboxes and vans. Sharing development, procurement and even manufacturing costs helps both companies make savings, Mr. Ghosn said, adding that both companies measured the gains from the alliance each year by looking at things including goods, assembly and royalties.

“Based on projects underway and planned we expect annual revenue between the companies to more than double in the next six years,” Mr. Ghosn said, declining to elaborate on what the figure would be.

In June, Daimler and Nissan announced they would share costs to develop and build premium small cars, including building a production line in Aguascalientes in central Mexico.