Quote:
Originally Posted by hanmaas
What are your opinions on the planned cooperation between BMW and Mercedes, who are planning on developing and sharing small things such as wiperblades but possibly engines for e.g. 3er and C-Class, and other parts?
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Totally OK imho, it works on Skoda and VW very well and to be frank I don't think they have much of a choice. They have to do this sooner or later or they'll go bust on ttheir own. It's just now a game of who will be on top.
BMW and Merc can easily share chassis - and just use different set ups. I know for many it's blasphemy but overall most platforms are RWD and similar sizes. 3-5-7 and C-E-S are ok to match them up but make bodies and driving feel as distinct as possible. The only problem is personnel and who gets laid off. Egineers at BMW do driver cars well and Merc people do nice comfy quality cars. I believe that on engineering side BMW might be at slight disadvantage (fuel pumps anyone?) - Merc is just a tiny bit better but also more pricey. BMW on other side tunes the cars to drive well but they make things a bit more complicated. So they can marry the two stregths. And make Merc more driver comfort, and BMW more driver - like in 80s. And Let AMG and Msport do their crazy shit for fanboys of each mark.
I really don't mind if it means they stay in business. But it's very hard to marry these - i think employees of each company almost hate each other, that's how much brand loyalty there is.
Back to why it's necessary - for modern car manufacturer to achieve proper economies of scale they need to be making around 5-6 million units per year. That's VW. Merc and BMW do just over 1 million each. not enough. Even together they will have to share stuff to get more mass market bits out (use the Smart and Mini brands). It's a big challenge and quite exciting. Still, 2-3million is not enough - and this is where a 3rd company will come in. most industry talk points at Peugeot-Citroen. They are the ones who got the cheap mass market covered. Will French and Germans get along - I dunno, but British and Germans manage so why not. Besides, BMW and Peugeot share diesel engines already (in Mini).