Daimler CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche offered a choice quote to his nation's leading weekly news mag, Der Spiegel, when he mentioned that the automaker would be open to developing an engine with the company's cross-town rival, BMW. Apparently, Daimler is in talks with several companies about joint projects, but as of now, nothing is set in stone.
The idea of a co-developed engine between the two German heavyweights is an interesting idea, especially if both manufactures begin to focus their efforts on some form of innovative propulsion. More turbos? New fuels? Pixie-dust power? Who knows?
[Source: Automotive News – Sub. Req.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mal Fuller @ Sep 8th 2007 6:07PM
Daimler is always casting about, looking for whatever knowledge, capital, anything, in fact that they can suck off of an unwary competitor. This makes me wonder if they can do anything by themselves anymore.
Drewboy @ Sep 8th 2007 6:54PM
No kidding. They sure sucked dry all the life at Chrysler before discharging the shell of what it once was.
paul34 @ Sep 8th 2007 7:05PM
Looking forward to more of those new variable-compression engines
Poopy Head @ Sep 8th 2007 7:22PM
I want to see Mercedes do a joint venture with Ferrari.
That way it wouldn't always be exotic Italian cars that simply spontaneous combust on the side of the road for no reason.
Barney @ Sep 8th 2007 8:43PM
Daimler is at least looking at a car maker that can build a decent car. BMW & Daimler engines may even sell well on their own.The Chrysler deal was nothing more then a financial burden to them.
eddie @ Sep 8th 2007 10:06PM
What financial burden? DSM (Diamond Star Motors) which included Mitsubishi and Chrysler was doing just fine throughout it's existance, both companies (Mitsubishi and CHrysler) were profitable until the fiasco that became of Daimler-Chrysler. First Daimler-Chrysler dropped Mitsubishi out in the cold but eversince they left they started making competetive products again (see the new Outlander and Lancer) and had a profitable year for the first time in few years. I am willing to bet that Chrysler will also be fine in a couple of years, they have some top management recruited recently. SO maybe th problem in it all was Daimler and not the other companies? Again, Mitsubishi and Chrysler were doing just fine without Daimler and now Mitsubishi is doing fine without Daimler.
Barney @ Sep 8th 2007 10:40PM
Your wrong Eddie and I can only surmise you are very young or so old, you lost your memory. Throughout Chrysler's history they have struggled to stay alive. Canadain and American governments have aided them several times. The fact they repaid their depts don't make them a thriving company. The merger between Chrysler and Daimler was to be benefical to both parties. Daimler (Mercedes Benz) was to have a domestic car in the US. Chrysler was to finaly get a qualification of quality. Daimler discovered that Chrysler has a small footprint in North America and buyers still didn't acquaint Chyrsler as a quality car maker. Daimler paid to rid it'self of the car maker and still left holding 20% of the stock.
Perhaps Chrysler will do better alone but they aren't are they? Mitsibishi may not be big but has products that are considered reliable. That's to the benefit of Chyrsler and not a benefit of Chrysler. Again the partnership is not equal.
Frank @ Sep 9th 2007 10:55PM
Barney:
"Throughout Chrysler's history they have struggled to stay alive."
Not True. Only once in the early 1980's were they in danger of going under. In all the other years of their existence they have gone through the same boom and bust cycles that Ford and GM have gone thru.
"Canadain and American governments have aided them several times."
Not true. Only once in the early 1980's did the government agree to back loans by PRIVATE banks to Chrysler. In all the other years any assistence made by government bodies were the same as those offered to other auto compainies foreign and domestic: assistence developing new factories, job training assistence, etc. All the things that local, sate, and federal governments do for companies to help them provide high paying technical and engineering jobs.
Barney @ Sep 9th 2007 11:10PM
Frank, the Canadian Government did indeed provide fiancial assistance. Then Chrysler closed the factory as soon as the loan was paid off. The loan was with low interest and part grant. That was the eighties. If you follow the stock market, then you know Chrysler has had ups and downs since. Someone claimed that Chrysler had oodles of cash when Daimler merged with them. If that was the case, then the CEOs of that company should have been cornered by their stock holders. Cash is an asset if it was to be part of the merger. Check out this company through finacial web sites not "Autoblog". Maybe it will intoduce you to the real world of automobiles. You'll discover that little has to do with cars.
iQuack @ Sep 9th 2007 2:01AM
Mercedes doesn't have the reputation it had before screwing up Chrysler as well as its own service record.
Sure, Mercedes is good, but so are many other cars that are safe, drive well, are as durable, and cost half as much.
Between MB and BMW, I think BMW is a better choice.
whofan @ Sep 9th 2007 6:57AM
Some of the best vehicles I`ve owned have been Chryslers
The 1970`s was a long time ago. Our domestic brands still can`t live it down.
Chrysler was the bread winner for Diamler just a few years back.
BMW should steer clear of these guys!
rgseidl @ Sep 9th 2007 10:02AM
@ Drewboy -
People forget that Mercedes spent a lot of money stabilizing Chrysler after they bought it. In the process, the core Mercedes brand itself began to suffer from lack of management attention, on top of the perennial losses at smart.
After ousting Schrempp, Zetsche was elevated to the CEO position. Unfortunately, Wolfgang Berhard, who was slated to take on Mercedes, rubbed too many of the old guard the wrong way and Zetsche had to let him go. That left him with too few top-notch managers to deal with Mercedes, Chrysler, smart and the old guard all at the same time. In the process, Chrysler was starved of the additional resources required to capitalize on its turnaround with a new product line. In particular, the old guard absolutely did not want to dilute the Mercedes brand equity.
So yes, Zetsche did mismanage the Chrysler side of the business. But his mistake was not that he "sucked Chrysler dry", rather he was not assertive enough to promote Berhard to the top job there (instead of at MB) despite objections by the old guard. LaSorda is a nice man and he knows a lot about manufacturing, but he was the wrong man to entrust with the development of a brand-new line of models.
In the end, Mercedes had to pay Cerberus money to rid itself of 80% of Chrysler. The press releases glossed over this humiliating fact, you had to read the fine print to find out.
rgseidl @ Sep 9th 2007 10:16AM
If MB & BMW collaborate on engine tech, I suspect it will be a defensive move just in case the EU Commission decides to impose fleet average CO2 emissions limits per manufacturer.
That would force these premium manufacturers to produce a lot more subcompacts, which require a completely different cost structure to be profitable. Joint engine development and production is one way to cut costs. BMW already has an engine JV with Peugeot, but perhaps it feels that the French got the better end of that particular deal.
The resulting products of any Daimler AG/BMW AG collaboration would then presumably be branded as smart and Mini, respectively. This would tarnish their premium image, but at least avoid diluting the differentiation of the core brands.
Indeed, it would then even make sense for smart and Mini to operate a shared core platform and assembly line, as Fiat and Ford Europe are doing in Poland for the 500 and new Ka, respectively. The European Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1 also all roll off the same production line in Slovakia.
Speculation regarding a Daimler/BMW cooperation becomes moot if the EU's CO2 limits are applied to the umbrella associations ACEA, JAMA and KAMA or, if they are watered down to allow higher emissions for heavier cars.
Barney @ Sep 9th 2007 11:59AM
Your probably closer to the real facts then anyone. The emissions requirements are the biggest hurdle for any car maker. Few are willing to tackle it alone. These engines will have to be more advanced then anything available now. NA standards are different enough and those car makers are isolated by geography. BMW seems to be the hesitant partner but may change their attitude.
Barney @ Sep 9th 2007 11:19PM
Their reputation will hopefully improve without the albatross hanging from their neck. The stupid move will be a black mark untill Daimler proves they won't do something like that again. Taking on a company like Chrysler was a poor business venture. They could have sunk because of that company. It cost a fortune to get rid of it and they still will be burdened with 20% of it. Hopefull Chrysler will survive long enough to retrieve the 20% and allow Daimler to shake loose.