Renault-Nissan & Daimler Strategic Cooperation

In April 2010, Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance announced a strategic cooperation in order to increase economies of scale, help accelerate growth in new regions and to share the research and development cost of next-generation powertrains and vehicles. Cooperation between the three companies has expanded significantly since they joined forces in 2010 and has also become increasingly global in scope. Below please find a list of major projects, including the original three “pillar projects.”

ORIGINAL PROJECTS

1. Mercedes-Benz Citan  In September 2012, Daimler launched the Citan, a city van based on Renault’s Kangoo light commercial vehicle. Citan is produced at Renault’s plant in Maubeuge, France, where Renault also produces its Kangoo. The Citan is the first vehicle on the road resulting from the Alliance-Daimler strategic cooperation created in April 2010.

2. Next-generation smart/Twingo  Renault and Daimler have developed a joint rear-wheel-drive architecture for the successor of the smart two-seater, a new smart four-seater and successor of Renault Twingo. The smart two-seater will be built at Daimler’s Hambach plant in France. The four-seater vehicles will be produced at Renault’s plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia. The cars will be launched in the second half of 2014 and will remain independent products with an unmistakable unique brand identity.

3. Joint use and development of diesel and gasoline engines  Supply of Renault-Nissan diesel engines and transmissions for Mercedes-Benz cars and vans - The Mercedes Citan is equipped with a 1.5-liter, 4-cylinder diesel engine originally developed by Renault and adapted by Mercedes- Benz. - A variant of this engine is also packaged in the Mercedes-Benz A-and B-Class models, which went on sale in 2012.  Supply of Mercedes-Benz 4-cylinder engines and automatic transmissions to Infiniti - In October 2013, Nissan’s premium brand Infiniti launched the Q50 sports sedan available with a 2.1 liter, 4-cylinder diesel engine and automatic transmission originally developed by Mercedes-Benz and adapted by Infiniti. In spring 2014, the Q50 went on sale in China with 2 liter, 4-cylinder gasoline engine originally developed by Daimler and adapted by Infiniti. Q50 is the first Infiniti vehicle to benefit from the cooperation with Daimler.  Joint development of 3-cylinder gasoline engines for next-generation smart and Twingo - Daimler and Renault have jointly developed a 3-cylinder gasoline engine for the new smart and Twingo vehicles.

OTHER MAJOR PROJECTS

4. Nissan-Mitsubishi Fuso cross-supply of light duty trucks in Japan  In 2013, Nissan and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, a Daimler subsidiary, began cross-supply of light-duty trucks for the Japanese market. Nissan supplies Fuso with the “Atlas F24” (payloads: 1.15 to 1.5 tons), sold under the name “Canter Guts,” while Fuso supplies Nissan its “Canter” (payloads: 2.0 to 4.0 tons), sold under the name “NT450 Atlas.”

5. Supply of Nissan NV350 vans to Mitsubishi Fuso for export  A memorandum of understanding was signed in 2013, under which Nissan supplies Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus with its NV350 Urvan commercial van for export from Japan.

6. Supply of Mercedes-Benz engines for Mercedes & Infiniti vehicles (Decherd project)  In June 2014, production of a 2-liter, turbocharged 4-cylinder gasoline engine began at a newly established Nissan and Daimler powertrain facility in Decherd, Tennessee, USA. The engines produced by the Infiniti Decherd Powertrain Plant will initially be used in European versions of the Infiniti Q50 sports sedan and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The new facility will have installed capacity of 250,000 units per year once full ramp-up is achieved.

7. Daimler compact car architecture for Infiniti Q30  In 2015, Infiniti will begin production of its new compact premium vehicle Q30 at Nissan’s Sunderland plant in the UK. The vehicle will use components from Daimler’s compact car architecture which will be used in a brand specific way. The Q30 concept car was unveiled at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show.

8. Jointly developed Renault-Daimler small gasoline engines  Renault and Daimler are jointly developing a new direct-injection turbocharged small gasoline engine family. The new engines will feature state-of-the-art technology in a compact package and will offer a significant improvement in fuel economy, as well as low emissions. The new engines will debut in Daimler, Renault and Nissan vehicles in 2016.

9. Joint development of premium compact vehicles.  In June 2014, the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler announced that Nissan and Daimler will work together on the development of the next- generation compact vehicles for Mercedes-Benz and Infiniti.

10. Joint production in Mexico In June 2014, the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler also announced that they will jointly manufacture next-generation premium vehicles at a new plant in Nissan’s manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Start of production is planned for 2017 with Infiniti models. The production of Mercedes-Benz brand vehicles will follow in 2018. Daimler and Nissan will share the total investment cost for Aguascalientes of approximately €1 billion. Aguascalientes plant will hire about 5,700 additional workers to build the vehicles. The plant will be able to produce 300,000 vehicles at full capacity.

11. Nissan production of Daimler next-generation automatic transmissions  Nissan has been granted a license to manufacture Daimler’s advanced 9- speed automatic transmissions for Nissan and Infiniti vehicles. The transmissions will be manufactured by Nissan’s subsidiary Jatco starting in 2016 and will feature "start and stop" and "park and shift by wire” technologies.

12. Fuel cell electric vehicles  Nissan, Daimler and Ford are working on the development of a joint fuel- cell stack and system to accelerate the market-readiness of fuel-cell electric vehicles by the end of the decade.