The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG are significantly expanding their cooperation with the joint development of premium compact vehicles and joint production in Mexico. Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche have announced that their companies have agreed to establish a 50:50 joint-venture, a business entity, that will oversee construction and operation of the new plant in Aguascalientes in north-central Mexico.

 

The new plant will be built in the immediate vicinity of an already existing Nissan plant and will have an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles when fully ramped up. Start of production is planned for 2017 with Infiniti models. The production of Mercedes vehicles will follow in 2018. Daimler and Nissan will share the total investment cost for Aguascalientes of approximately 1 billion euro (approximately Rs 8,188 crore). The companies will add almost 5,700 jobs by the time the plant reaches full capacity, expected in 2021. In addition, a high localisation rate will significantly increase the Mexican supply base.

 

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, said “Joint development of compact premium vehicles and joint production in Aguascalientes together represent one of the largest projects between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler. It also shows how our collaboration, which began in Europe, has become global in scope.” 

 

Close collaboration between Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz at every stage of development, from advanced R&D 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.

 

The French-Japanese-German industrial cooperation of Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance began in April 2010, with three ‘pillar projects’ primarily focused on Europe. Since then, the portfolio has increased to 12 significant projects, including major initiatives from the Americas to Japan. Infiniti and Daimler have also launched production of four-cylinder petrol engines in Tennessee, USA. With an annual production capacity of 250,000 units, this facility produces engines for use in the Mercedes-Benz C-class and in the Infiniti Q50.