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| News of a bakkie with a Mercedes-Benz badge has generated much excitement, but as owner of this 1956 Merc 180D bakkie Gary Bowes points out, the Nissan-based bakkie will join a long line of pick-ups with three-point stars. |
FOLLOWING on the news that Nissan and Daimler will develop a Merc
bakkie on the Nissan NP300 platform, Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance on
Wednesday announced they will invest
a total of $1 billion (R12,7 billion) in a new joint manufacturing in
central Mexico.
Called the Co-operation Manufacturing Plant Aguascalientes
(Compas), the plant will be 50:50 owned by Daimler and Nissan.
Compas which will oversee the construction and operation of a
manufacturing plant for the production of next-generation premium compact
vehicles for the brands Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti.
The state-of-the-art plant will be located near the Nissan
Aguascalientes A2 plant. It will have an initial annual production capacity of
more than 230 000 vehicles and will create about 3 600 direct jobs by 2020 with
potential for added capacity. Production of Infiniti vehicles will begin in
2017, the
first Mercedes-Benz vehicles will roll off the line in 2018.
first Mercedes-Benz vehicles will roll off the line in 2018.
Compas CEO Ryoji Kurosawa said the plant is an outstanding example
of the global reach of the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler co-operation.
“Together we are combining the manufacturing expertise of Nissan and Daimler in
one production plant in Mexico for the production of next-generation premium
compact cars,” said Kurosawa. “Aguascalientes was selected as the location for
this new plant thanks to the state’s well-established supplier base and Nissan’s
track record in highly efficient manufacturing in Mexico for more than three
decades,” he added.
Compas CFO Uwe Jarosh said the plant gives Mercedes-Benz Cars its
first production location for compact cars in the markets served by the North
American Free Trade Agreement.
As announced in June 2014, Daimler and Infiniti will also
co-operate in the development of the next-generation premium compact vehicles
for the brands Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti. The partners will closely collaborate
at every stage of the product creation process.
Brand identity will be safeguarded as the Mercedes-Benz and
Infiniti vehicles will clearly differ from each other in terms of product
design, driving characteristics, and specifications.
Daimler and Nissan will also produce the next-generation premium
compact cars at other production locations around the world, including Europe
and China.
In terms of size, Daimler Group is much smaller than the
Renault-Nissan Alliance, which sells one in 10 cars worldwide. Daimler last year
sold over 2,5 million vehicles, while Renault and Nissan sold 8,5 million
vehicles in nearly 200 countries. The Alliance also operates strategic
collaborations with automakers including Germany’s Daimler, Japan’s Mitsubishi,
China’s Dongfeng, and India’s Ashok Leyland.
Meanwhile in China
General Motors (GM) and its Chinese partner
Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation announced a $5 billion, four-year
project to develop a new range of affordable modern vehicles using GM’s four
modular platforms and engines developed by both companies.
Like the Renault-Nissan-Daimler plant, GM and SAIC plans production
for Mexico, but adds Brazil, China, India to the mix, with the tiny market of
South Africa still a possibility. GM estimates the partnership can sell two
million units annually into these markets.
GM product chief Mark Reuss said in a statement: “This new vehicle
family will feature advanced customer-facing technologies focused on
connectivity, safety and fuel efficiency delivered at a compelling value. It
will be a combination of content and value not offered previously by any
automaker in these markets that are poised for growth.”
