Confirming earlier reports, the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG have announced they are significantly expanding their cooperation with joint development of premium compact vehicles and joint production in Mexico.
Both companies said they will work closely on development of next-generation compact vehicles for both Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti luxury brands. Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche today announced that their companies have agreed to set up a 50-50 joint venture which will oversee construction and operation of the new plant in Aguascalientes in north-central Mexico.
The new facility will be built near an already existing Nissan plant with investment costs estimated at €1 billion ($1.36 billion). The costs will be equally divided between the two partner companies. The plant will have a maximum annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles and will add nearly 5,700 workers by 2021, when the plant is expected to reach full capacity.
Production is expected to start in 2017 with Infiniti models, followed in 2018 by Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Neither Daimler, nor Renault-Nissan mentioned the name of the models that will be produced in the new factory. However, they said “close collaboration between Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz at every stage of development, from advanced research and design to production, will ensure that vehicles within the scope of the project will clearly differ from each other in terms of product design and specifications.”
By Dan Mihalascu
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