Search the Community

More details have emerged on the sharing of powerplants between Renault and Mercedes-Benz. According to Autocar, Renault-Nissan will make available its new 1.6 liter diesel power plant to Mercedes-Benz for use in the A- and B-Class starting next year. The new 1.6 liter diesel produces a healthy 128 bhp. In return, Mercedes-Benz will reciprocate by supplying Renault-Nissan with a 2.0 liter petrol unit, as well as grant access to its range of V6 and V8 engines to be used by the French-Japanese alliance. The sharing of engines is part the global automotive alliance agreement that Daimler AG and Renault-Nissan signed earlier this year. The partnership also involves the co-development of small 3 to 4 cylinder engines ranging from 1.2 to 1.8L capacity, which will be engineered by Daimler but built by Renault-Nissan. Those engines will be shared by all the brands of the two automakers, including Daimler's Smart unit. There was alleged interest involving Nissan's premium marque, Infiniti, adopting AMG power plants for its IPL performance line. That may involve seeing AMG performance engines fitted to Infiniti models such as the G and M series.

[extract] Talks are ongoing between Saab Automobile and three car manufacturers on sharing their technology in a move to reduce model-development costs and bolster its recovery, according to Spyker Cars NV Chief Executive Officer Victor Muller, the head of Saab