Not the marrying kind, Renault-Nissan's Infiniti and Mercedes will build cars in Mexico

When Zetsche and Ghosn announced four years ago that the companies would cooperate on joint projects where it made sense, Zetsche said he never expected then that he’d be announcing a project as wide-ranging in scope as this one. Daimler and Renault-Nissan will share the roughly 1 billion euro ($1.4  billion) investment cost. It will be constructed near a Nissan plant that was built 22 years earlier in  Aguascalientes in north-central Mexico.

Ghosn said the plant represents one of the largest joint projects with Daimler, previously Chrysler’s partner for nine years. “It also shows how our collaboration, which began in Europe, has become global in scope.”

So why not take the next step and merge? It’s perfect the way it is now, Zetsche says, because you don’t have to cooperate if it doesn’t feel right. Ghosn says he doesn’t feel a need to blur brands or corporate cultures.

Close work between Infiniti, Nissan’s premium brand, and Mercedes at every stage of development, from research and design to production, will ensure that the vehicles in the project will retain their distinct identities.

Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance began their collaborative relationship in April 2010, starting with three primarily European “pillar projects,” including a small car platform for the next-generation Smart car from Mercedes. Since then, their cooperation has expanded to 12 projects, ranging from Europe to the Americas and Japan.

This week, Infiniti and Daimler launched production of four-cylinder gasoline engines in Decherd, Tenn., for Mercedes C-Class and Infiniti Q50 cars.

Later this year, Renault-Nissan and Daimler will start selling the next-generation Smart and Twingo city cars, developed on a shared platform, the Twingo and the four-seater Smart being produced at the Renault plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, the two-seater Smart in Hambach, France. It was a very small car, but producing it was a very big headache for Daimler. For Renault, nothing could be simpler.

Source:

www.forbes.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 8:14 AM in collaboration, cylinder gasoline, Daimler, joint projects, Mercedes, Mexico, Renault-Nissan, Renault-Nissan's, Zetsche

Nissan, Mercedes team to construct new Mexican car plant

In this March 27, 2014 picture, a Mercedes-Benz sedans sit inside a car-carrier before being hauled away for distribution from the company's Vehicle Processing Center in Baltimore. (Credit: AP)

Daimler AG and Nissan Motor Co. will jointly produce luxury vehicles at a new $1.4 billion factory in Mexico, the biggest project to date in their four-year-old partnership.

The German and Japanese automakers will assemble as many as 300,000 Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti compact cars at a facility near Nissan’s plant in Aguascalientes, the companies said today in a joint statement. The first cars are due to roll off the line in 2017.

“This project shows how our collaboration, which began in Europe, has become global in scope,” Carlos Ghosn, chief executive officer of Nissan and its French affiliate Renault SA, said in the statement.

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Daimler has cooperated with the Renault-Nissan Alliance since 2010. The partnership, which was initially focused on city cars and delivery vans, has since expanded to include motors and transmissions. The latest step would help Infiniti expand its lineup and lower costs for Mercedes as the Stuttgart-based carmaker seeks to surpass BMW in sales and profit by the end of the decade.

Daimler and Nissan will establish a 50/50 joint venture to manage the construction and operation of the Mexican factory, which will eventually employ almost 5,700 people. Production of Infiniti models is slated to start in 2017, with Mercedes cars to follow a year later. The companies expect to reach full capacity at the site in 2021.

The two upscale brands will cooperate to ensure their respective vehicles differ from one another, they said.

The auto-assembly agreement is the latest cooperation between the upscale Mercedes and Infiniti brands. Production of four-cylinder engines, which will be used in the Mercedes C- Class and Infiniti Q50 sedan, started yesterday at a Nissan plant in Tennessee.

The new Mercedes-Infiniti factory will be adjacent to Nissan’s $2 billion plant in Aguascalientes, which opened in November. The Yokohama-based carmaker assembles the Sentra compact sedan at the plant.

With the decision, Mercedes is following Audi AG’s move to produce in Mexico. The world’s second-largest luxury-car brand plans to start assembling sport-utility vehicles in San Jose Chiapa in 2016. BMW is considering sites in Mexico for a new North American factory, people familiar with the matter said in April.

Renault and Daimler already cooperate on mass-market compacts. The French manufacturer’s Twingo shares the same underpinnings as an upcoming four-seat version of the Smart city car. Both models are built in Renault’s plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.

Source:

www.newsday.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 9:40 AM in Carlos Ghosn, Daimler AG, luxury vehicles, Mercedes, motors, new Mexican car, Nissan, Nissan Motor Co, old partnership, surpass BMW

Apple brings CarPlay to iPhone and iPad with iOS 7.1

Apple has begun offering its latest iOS update to iPad and iPhone owners, bringing support for its newly announced motoring project CarPlay

Apple has begun offering its latest iOS update to iPad and iPhone owners, bringing support for its newly announced motoring project CarPlay.

The system allows an iOS device to be controlled by a compatible car’s “touchscreen, knobs and buttons”. Users can safely push a button placed in an easily accessible spot to launch Siri, then make calls, use maps, listen to music and access messages hands-free. A screen built-in to the dashboard can show turn-by-turn directions.

Vehicles from Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo have CarPlay as an option for customers, while manufacturers such as BMW, Ford and Jaguar will all launch the feature in the future. The latest version of iOS – 7.1 – adds the support necessary to make the system work with existing phones and tablets.

Other software tweaks include the ability to display events in the month view in the Calendar app, a fix for the bug which could “occasionally cause a Home screen crash” and improved Touch ID fingerprint recognition.

Siri has been adjusted so that you can hold the Home button down while talking and release it when you have finished, rather than letting it decide when your command has ended. The update also adds a “more natural-sounding” voice for the UK English setting.

Those with extremely bad inbox-checking habits will be pleased to note that a glitch which affected unread mail numbers greater than 10,000 on the Mail badge has also been fixed.

News Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Posted by Editorial Team on 7:07 AM in Apple, BMW, CarPlay, Ferrari, Ford, iOS 7.1, iPhone, Jaguar, Mercedes, Touch ID

Apple's 'iOS in the Car' technology to roll out next week, says report

Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo are aboard for the launch of the operating system, which lets drivers access various iPhone functions through a car's built-in screen, says a report.

Apple VP Eddy Cue shows off iOS in the Car at WWDC 2013.

Apple's "iOS in the Car" operating system, which would let drivers access various iPhone functions through a car's built-in screen, is set to head out of the garage next week, says a report.

Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, and Volvo are the automakers on board for the launch, says the Financial Times, which cited unnamed sources in reporting that the official announcement will take place at the Geneva Motor Show. The FT said neither Apple nor the carmakers would comment.

Apple talked up iOS in the Car at its Worldwide Developers Conference last year, with VP Eddy Cue -- a Ferrari board member -- showing a mock-up of a car's LCD with Apple menu buttons for maps, phone, music, and messaging. Cue said the functions could be accessible via Siri as well. Many cars already include integration with iOS music functions. Cue said Chevrolet, Ferrari, Honda, Jaguar, Mercedes, Nissan, Volvo and others would be introducing iOS integration this year.

Beyond smartphones, "the bigger opportunity for Apple and its ecosystem is becoming essential not just for people texting, checking news, watching movies, and playing games, but for massive growth areas such as transportation, home automation, and health care," CNET's Dan Farber noted last week, following a report that Apple's head of mergers and acquisitions had met with Elon Musk, CEO of electric-car maker Tesla, in 2013.

Apple's rivals are also aware of those opportunities. The Wall Street Journal reported in December that Google had teamed up with Audi to develop in-car entertainment and information systems based on its Android OS. And, of course, on the home automation front, Google is set to buy Nest for $3.2 billion.

Here's Eddy Cue talking about iOS in the Car at last year's WWDC:

News Source: news.cnet.com

Posted by Editorial Team on 3:09 AM in $3.2 billion, Apple's, Car, car's LCD, drivers, Ferrari, Mercedes, next week, Volvo, Worldwide