REPORT: Toyota considering cooperation with Daimler on compact, full-size models
According to a report from Auto Motor und Sport, Toyota is considering a partnership with Daimler to build Mercedes-Benz' A- and B-Class sub-compacts on the Japanese automaker's MC platform. The idea is to maximize the efficiency and output of Toyota's European plants, and could also include sharing development costs on each brand's next generation flagships: the Lexus LS and Mercedes S-Class. Daimler has dismissed the report as "speculation," while a Toyota Motor Europe spokesman toed the company line, only saying "It's part of our normal business practice that we regularly talk to other carmakers but there are no specific projects planned at the moment."
[Source: Auto Motor und Sport via Reuters]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Torrent 3:48PM (7/01/2009)
lol I was gonna say how good looking that Benz was til I realized what it was.
I want to see what they can make to have a real 1 series fighter.
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James 4:22PM (7/01/2009)
If true, this isn't the first time Daimler AG had partnered with an Asian automaker...in 1991, it associated itself with Korean Ssangyong (as evidenced by engines and models Rodius, Rexton, Actyon, Chairman, Istana, etc.).
We'd probably see a...Lexus-Benz, perhaps. ;-)
P.V. 4:33PM (7/01/2009)
Oh dear God. Please never again mention the Rodius. The only model from SsangYong that I find even somewhat appealing is the Chairman.
tuxchown 10:27PM (7/01/2009)
Toyota can suck it.
John P. 3:51PM (7/01/2009)
Sharing some hybrid and other tech would make some sense, but the logo photoslap job threw me off there. Something along those lines would be a disaster.
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Throwback 4:00PM (7/01/2009)
If true, I hope they keep their sandwich platform for the A & B. That is truly innovative.
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Shiftright 4:06PM (7/01/2009)
Hmmm, Mercedes & Lexus sandwich...Great for those on a low sodium diet because it has no condiments and little flavor.
Shiftright 4:04PM (7/01/2009)
Ironic, since Lexus only recently has moved away from shamelessly copying Mercedes.
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JM 4:11PM (7/01/2009)
I'd like to think at one point MB was copying Lexus in various ways...
Greg 5:54PM (7/01/2009)
Now they will have to stop coping BMW and go back to their Mercedes roots.
the4thheat 4:17PM (7/01/2009)
Heh, maybe if they kept anybody outside of Europe from finding out that Mercedes was building cars on a Toyota platform this would work. The A and B class aren't really high end cars so the dilution wouldn't be too bad, but in places where MB is solely a luxury brand it would look pretty bad if they started using Toyota platforms in anything.
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homunculus 4:27PM (7/01/2009)
toyota says hyundai is their number one threat
mercedes starts copying hyundai's exterior design and headhunts hyundai's designer
coincidences? i think not.
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P.V. 4:32PM (7/01/2009)
Well, the 3-pointed star doesn't look too out of place on that car. :D
Anyway, that would be great, because given Daihatsu's dominance of the small-car market in Japan, M-B could use some of that much-needed expertise in that segment, while Toyota could use a little help dynamically for the next LS (vs. the S-Class).
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click_playaz 6:25PM (7/01/2009)
Wow. Nice...Let's see how it works. MB+Lexus = XXXXXXXL Luxury.
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click_playaz 6:26PM (7/01/2009)
Wow. Nice...Let's see how it works. MB+Lexus = XXXXXXXL Luxury.
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elprogramer 6:31PM (7/01/2009)
They should ask Chrysler how that worked out for them...
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mehulkamdar 6:59PM (7/01/2009)
This isn't the first time that Daimler Benz has tried to join forces with a Japanese company. In the 1980s they took a proposal to Mistubishi to collaborate on a very broad basis but were rebuffed by the Mitsubishi board who thought that they were superior to Benz technologicaly. At the time, the US media was fond of talking constantly about the decline of America and there was no end of rending of hair and breast-beating in the media about how two companies from countries that were then considered most likely to "beat" the USA, were working together to bypass American carmakers. Daimler went on to buy Chrysler and the rest is history.
It will be interesting to see what happens with this proposal to work together with Toyota. When two companies as large and different as MB and Toyota decide to work together, ther esult could either be spectacularly successful or equally spectacularly, a failure.
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ryuryuryturtuy 8:03PM (7/01/2009)
I bet the main reason is Hyundai.
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