BMW, Mercedes could develop compact cars together

[dalab]

automotivenews.com

BMW and Mercedes could jointly develop the next generations of their compact cars – the BMW 1 series and the Mercedes A class – as part of a wider cooperation that would also include sharing technology for autonomous cars, a German newspaper reported.

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

automotivenews.com

BMW and Mercedes could jointly develop the next generations of their compact cars – the BMW 1 series and the Mercedes A class – as part of a wider cooperation that would also include sharing technology for autonomous cars, a German newspaper reported.

It may be their only option to compete with Audi/VAG.

 

[hoffmeister_fan]

Historically, a super blood wolf moon has meant an omen of things to come. This bit of news might just be that.

 

[Rolf]

I think Mercedes approached BMW before to form a partnership about developing a small car and BMW was not interested.

 

[LaArtist]

Eeew

 

[martinbo]

Perish the thought. Let's retain some healthy competition.

 

[Mick Briesgau]

I think Mercedes approached BMW before to form a partnership about developing a small car and BMW was not interested.

It's been discussed more in history, to get German's best to cooperate. Sometimes it functioned (purchase of 'Here' together with Audi) Most of the times it didn't; company culture is too different...thank God. On this point I'm with @martinbo: nothing beats competition.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

But didn't BMW announce that they are making no more cooperations with Daimler (who played the chicken) after the Cartel allegations?

 

[LaArtist]

There was a golden chance back in the days, mb could have bought out bmw and then just shut it down.

Imagine the world .. ahh such happiness and prosperity.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

Imagine the world .. ahh such happiness and prosperity.

Not for everybody. Car mechanics would starve to death.

 

[LaArtist]

Not for everybody. Car mechanics would starve to death.

 

[hovabongZA]

Hope it doesn’t happen, that would be one less MB I can gloat about BMW beating.

 

[EnI]

Industry latest insights, rumors & expectations. According to buzz within supplier chains.

1.
It is expected Daimler to join BMW-Intel - led Autonomous Driving consortium (also involving Mobileye, FiatChrysler, Magna, Continental, Delphi, Aptiv etc). It's inevitable since BMW & Daimler agreed to merged their car sharing / ride sharing etc business, and AD is essential for that business. HyundaiKIA, Subaru and Honda are also in talks with BMW-Intel to join the consortium. The bigger the consortium grows, the more attractive seems to be for other automotive companies to join in. I guess Daimler could also bring Bosch to the consortium eventually.


2.
The other field for cooperation is purchasing / production of battery cells (possibly with third-party partner like CATL etc), cooperation in future battery tech R&D, and more involved role in charging station infrastructure within IONITY project.


3.
And the final possible cooperation point: joined development of BEV-only sub-compact vehicles, mainly mini MINI versions and various smart model, suitable for car sharing mostly. Most possible with a Chinese partner like eg. Geely, Great Wall etc. No joint development of future FAAR & MFA platforms is expected. Currently smart vehicles are done in cooperation with Renault (sharing platform with Renault Twingo), while mini MINI (previewed as MINI Rocketman Concept) is still only an unrealised plan since talks with Toyota (to jointly develop such a platform) were note successful.

 

[klier]

Perish the thought. Let's retain some healthy competition.

Competition will stay in the RWD models, the real versions of the brands.

MB and BMW co-developing FWD platforms sounds like a fantastic plan to me. Because lets face it, catching up to VAG in this class is simply impossible on their own.

 

[Rolf]

I would prefer BMW and Mercedes with their unrivaled engineering skills trying to beat each other to bring out a VW Golf basher. I think if they had to join forces it would be an embarrassment to both brands as most buyers will know they driving a badge engineered BMERC.

 

[CrunchSlaughtered]

I would prefer BMW and Mercedes with their unrivaled engineering skills trying to beat each other to bring out a VW Golf basher. I think if they had to join forces it would be an embarrassment to both brands as most buyers will know they driving a badge engineered BMERC.

BMB ( Bayerischer Mercedes-Benz)

 

[Rolf]

BMB ( Bayerische Mercedes-Benz)

Be My Baby

 

[Deleted member 25]

An extented partnership with Toyota would be much more interesting, they would bring their huge compact car expertise, huge money and maybe access to their fuell cell tech. Mercedes should only be considered to ease the pain in purchasing parts. Nothing else really interesting to bring.

 

[dalab]

 

[EnI]

So, finally got some info considering the topic ...

After combining mobility services, which will in the future be based on AD BEV robotaxis, BMW & Daimler had realised the synergies would only be possible with common AD solution & common BEV architecture as well. Initially the talks were about co-developing smart & mini-MINI but it soon became obvious A-segment would not be enough to satisfy robotaxi / carsharing services. Bigger vehicles would be needed as well. Therefore now the talks are about co-developing super-modular BEV platform for sub-compact, compact & mid-sized vehicle. So, a BEV-only platform for smart, MINI, MFA MB models & FAAR BMW models.

But mind "co-development" of platform in this case only means "standardization" - so the parts, drivetrains etc can fit perfectly. So everything bar the bare the basic architecture can still be brand-specific. In theory such standardization can also lead to shared production facilities if needed! Eg. BMW / MINI models being produced in MB / smart plants & vice versa.

IMHO the next level will be "standardization" of next gen of MRA & CLAR & other MB & BMW platforms.

Are we heading slowly & completely organically toward a merger between Daimler & BMW Group?