Nissan, Daimler Working On Mexican Assembly For Luxury Cars
The need for economies of scale in the automotive industry is driving some interesting events. The latest, a reported joint venture between Nissan and Daimler, is yet another step for the two companies, which has seen the Renault-Nissan alliance enter into, well, an alliance, to share costs relating to R&D and manufacturing.
Reuters is reporting that the two auto makers have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a factory in Mexico that will produce the Mercedes-Benz GLA, as well as an all-new Infiniti car.
The new car is likely the upcoming Q30 compact, which will use the Mercedes-Benz front-drive architecture that underpins the GLA and its CLA twin, as well as the Mercedes-Benz A and B Class compact hatches. The front-drive architecture has been wildly successful for Mercedes-Benz, and letting Infiniti utilize it will only ease some of the financial burden required for an all-new architecture, with both marques sharing some of the manufacturing costs.
Damiler and Renault-Nissan’s most recent collaboration was the just unveiled Renault Twingo, which will share a platform with the upcoming next-generation Smart cars. This sort of collaboration is a harbinger of things to come as competition in the auto world gets increasingly fierce, and the need for scale becomes a bigger requirement for profitability.
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How long until these vehicles are used to smuggle drugs into our borders?
Slightly off-topic: I saw the above Q30 at the auto show a few weeks ago in that color. After looking at it for a while, I determined the pinkish hue to be an almost exact match for the meat byproduct paste commonly known as "pink slime." It can now never be unseen.