Πραγματικά απορώ πως θα προωθήσει η Mercedes το pickup μοντέλο που ετοιμάζει. Μέχρι σήμερα γνωρίζαμε πως αυτό θα βασίζεται πάνω στο νέο Nissan Navara NP300, με τις δύο εταιρίες να επιβεβαιώνουν πως τόσο το pickup της Mercedes, όσο και το pickup που ετοιμάζει η Renault, θα τα κατασκευάζει η Nissan στα εργοστάσιά της στη Κόρδοβα της Αργεντικής και στη Βαρκελώνη της Ισπανίας.
Η Mercedes ωστόσο, περιγράφει το μοντέλο πως θα είναι “ένα πραγματικό Mercedes”. Το διπλοκάμπινο pickup θα εξελιχθεί και θα σχεδιαστεί από την Daimler για να ανταποκρίνεται στις ανάγκες των πελατών της, ενώ θα έχει όλα τα χαρακτηριστικά γνωρίσματα της Mercedes-Benz. Θα κοστίζει περισσότερο από τη πρόταση της Nissan και της Renault και πιθανολογείται ότι θα κινείται με τον 3-λιτρο V6 turbodiesel κινητήρα απόδοσης 258 ίππων και 620 Nm ροπής, που τοποθετείται και στην GLE 350 d 4MATIC.
Αναμένεται να κυκλοφορήσει πριν το κλείσιμο της δεκαετίας και θα πωλείται στις αγορές της Ευρώπης, της Λατινικής Αμερικής, της Νότιας Αφρικής και της Αυστραλίας, ενώ αργότερα θα πωλείται και στις Η.Π.Α.
Στις σχετικές ειδήσεις, η Daimler ανακοίνωσε πως μεταφέρει την έδρα και τα κεντρικά της γραφεία στην Αμερική, από το New Jersey, στο Μίσιγκαν.
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Cooperation of Daimler and Renault-Nissan Alliance accelerates, strengthens in 2015
- Original project portfolio has more than quadrupled to 13 projects on three continents
- Significant 2015 milestones include groundbreaking of joint assembly plant in Mexico, expansion of cooperation portfolio into pickup trucks
- Infiniti Q30 production starts later this year; car on display at Frankfurt International Motor Show
- EV versions of new smart fortwo and forfour to be powered by Renault electric motors
FRANKFURT – The partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG accelerated and strengthened as it entered its sixth year in 2015, the companies’ leaders said today in their annual media update during the Frankfurt International Motor Show.
Carlos Ghosn, Chairman and CEO of the Alliance, described the partnership as “one of the most productive in the auto industry.”
“It has accelerated the time-to-market for vehicle launches and has been an obvious strategic advantage for each partner,” Ghosn said. “We look forward to its continued growth, with more joint projects in the future.”
Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, agreed.
“Since the start of our cooperation in 2010, our joint projects have created value for our customers worldwide,”Zetsche said. “This year we further deepened the collaboration and announced two completely new projects. We cooperate when it is mutually beneficial. And that is the way we will keep it.”
Major milestones so far in 2015 include:
- Groundbreaking of a jointly owned assembly plant in Aguascalientes, Mexico: Nissan and Daimler recently broke ground on the U.S. $1 billion Aguascalientes plant, which will produce next-generation premium compact vehicles for Infiniti from 2017, and Mercedes-Benz starting in 2018. Nissan and Daimler will co-develop the vehicles. The plant is expected to produce more than 230,000 cars a year by 2020. They will also be produced at other Daimler and Nissan plants in Europe and China. The joint assembly plant is located next to the Nissan plant in Aguascalientes.
- Development of a 1-ton pickup truck for Mercedes-Benz: Earlier this year, Daimler and Nissan announced development of the first Mercedes-Benz entry into the pickup segment. The new pickup will share some of its architecture with the all-new Nissan NP300, but will be engineered and designed by Daimler to meet the specific needs of its customers in Europe, Australia, South Africa and Latin America. The vehicle will have all of Mercedes Benz’ distinctive characteristics and features. The truck will be built by Nissan in the Renault plant in Cordoba, Argentina, along with the Nissan NP300 and a Renault 1-ton truck, for Latin America. The three trucks will also be built at the Nissan Barcelona plant in Spain. Production of the Mercedes-Benz truck at both plants will start before the end of the decade.
- Launch of the Infiniti Q30: This premium active compact shares components of Daimler’s compact-car architecture but was engineered and designed by Infiniti from scratch to meet the specific needs of its customers. The car made its public debut at the Frankfurt show. Production will begin at Nissan’s Sunderland plant in the UK later this year.
- EV versions of the new smart fortwo and forfour: These all-new city cars have been on the market for nearly a year; they and the Renault Twingo were the first vehicles built on a common platform between Daimler and the Alliance. Customer reaction on all three models has been highly positive. As announced by the two executives, EV versions of the smart fortwo and forfour will go on sale in late 2016. Both vehicles will be fitted with an electric motor produced by Renault’s Cléon plant in France, the same one used in the Renault ZOE. The battery of the new smart electric drive will be produced by the Daimler subsidiary, “Deutsche ACCUmotive,” in Kamenz, Germany.
When the Daimler-Alliance partnership was launched in April 2010, the scope of the original collaboration was limited to three projects, primarily in Europe. Since then, the combined portfolio shared between the partners has more than quadrupled to 13 projects in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
Gov. Snyder in Germany: Daimler North America moving headquarters to Michigan
State opens Michigan Europe Center to promote trade and investment
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015
FRANKFURT – Daimler North America Corporation, the holding company for all of the company’s business units in the United States, will move its headquarters to Michigan from New Jersey, Gov. Rick Snyder announced as he completed an investment mission trip to Japan and Germany.
“Michigan is the world’s automotive leader, and Daimler’s decision to increase its presence in state is another indication that we intend to hold that position for generations to come,” Snyder said. “This company has long been a valued member of our business community. Michigan is leading the United States in creating new auto jobs and our leadership extends across all parts of the industry — manufacturing, R&D, engineering and technology development.”
After meeting with Daimler executives at the 66th Frankfurt Auto Show, Snyder said the headquarters relocation will bring 30 jobs to Michigan in central office functions including treasury, legal, accounting and executive staff.
Daimler is an historic automaker with roots tracing back to the very invention of the car. Today it manufactures the premium Mercedes-Benz line of vehicles. Daimler’s Michigan operations currently include Mercedes-Benz Financial Services headquarters in Farmington Hills, Detroit Diesel in Redford Township, and Mercedes-Benz Research and Development in Redford and Ann Arbor.
Snyder also announced Michigan is expanding its international presence with the opening of a Michigan Europe Center to promote trade and export development between the state and European markets.
“Having a European center will help Michigan businesses by expanding and strengthening partnerships and business opportunities between our state and European nations,” Snyder said. “This new venture will help promote Michigan made-products while spurring investment to enhance our engagement in the $17.6 trillion European market, creating more and better jobs here at home.”
With offices in Berlin and London, the center will promote and assist export trade development. Teams of in-market specialists will assist Michigan companies with research, market entry strategy, matchmaking, regulatory issues and trade mission meeting programs. With an office in Europe, Michigan small to medium enterprises will have easier access to customers in the 28 European Union countries.
During his two-day visit to the Frankfurt Auto Show, Snyder met with top executives of leading automotive supply chain companies and European parts manufacturers, delivering the message that Michigan is the premier automotive business location in North America.
German business relationships with Michigan traditionally have been strong, and state business leaders and economists say the potential growth opportunities for Michigan are substantial.
The announcements cap a 16,000-plus mile journey that took Snyder to meetings with automotive parts manufacturers and suppliers companies in Germany and Japan.
During two days at the Frankfurt Auto Show, Snyder met with executives of 60 auto supplier companies that have their American headquarters in Michigan.
Snyder participated in the signature event of the Frankfurt show hosted by the German Association of the Automotive Industry, which represents more than 620 businesses in vehicle and automotive components production. The German auto industry employs about 775,000 people directly, about the same number as the United States.
Since Snyder took office in 2011, Michigan has attracted $1.064 billion in new investments from Japanese companies and $1.136 billion from German businesses. Other missions led by Snyder or Lt. Gov. Brian Calley have included China, South Korea, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Israel, Chile, and Columbia.
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