German car giant Daimler has expanded its co-operation with the Renault-Nissan Alliance to develop new fuel-efficient powertrains.
The new partnership will seek to develop a four-cylinder petrol engine with turbo-charging and state-of-the-art technology to achieve new levels of efficiency.
It is planned that both manufacturing giants will manufacture the new engines and are expected to debut on Daimler, Renault and Nissan vehicles in 2016. Daimler, which owns brands including Mercedes-Benz and smart, will also grant a licence to Nissan to automatic transmissions using Daimler´s latest transmission technology for Nissan and Infiniti vehicles starting in 2016.
Nissan subsidiary Jatco is planning to manufacture these newly licensed gearboxes in Mexico. The new transmission will feature "start and stop" and "park and shift by wire” technologies.
“These new components demonstrate how broadly and rapidly our collaboration is proliferating – while all the time remaining rooted in specific projects that give tangible benefits to our customers,” Renault-Nissan Alliance chief executive, Carlos Ghosn said. “The relationship is expanding organically and logically.”
“The collaboration achieved a milestone this year, with the first vehicles and engines from the partnership now on the roads,” Dieter Zetsche, Daimler’s CEO said. “Furthermore, all our engineers are keeping an open mind, looking with fresh eyes at all potential new areas of collaboration.”
The companies are also believed to be moving forward with discussions on fuel cell vehicle powertrains, and they are working on a cross-supply program for battery and powertrain components of zero-emission versions of their small cars.
Past collaboration between the two groups has seen the Alliance supply Daimler with compact three-cylinder gasoline engines as used in the Twingo vehicles, for use in smart cars. Daimler in turn supplied Nissan and Infiniti with four- and six-cylinder gasoline and diesel engines as well as with automatic transmissions.
Faye has been writing about cars and environmental issues since 2007. A suspected eco-warrior working on the corporate inside, Faye mainly likes the weird, quirky vehicles that show a distinct environmental advantage. Her ideal car has enough room to fit a bale of hay in the boot. When not working, she likes nothing better than to head out on her bicycle and explore the countryside.
No comments yet.