Cooperation of Daimler and Renault-Nissan Alliance continues to accelerate

• CEOs say partnership will continue expanding, and all projects are on track
• Original project portfolio has quadrupled to 12 projects across three continents
• New Renault Twingo, smart fortwo and smart forfour launch this fall and represent the first vehicles fully co-developed from scratch
• Mitsubishi Fuso and Nissan sign contract for supply of Fuso Canter Van for export markets

PARIS – The Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG enjoy a long-term and stable future, and all of their shared projects remain on track, the companies' CEOs told journalists today in their annual media update at the Paris Motor Show.

Renault-Nissan and Daimler launched their partnership in 2010. The scope of the original collaboration in 2010 was limited to three projects primarily in Europe. The combined portfolio shared between Renault-Nissan and Daimler has since quadrupled to 12 projects in Europe, Asia and North America.

"The global scale of our projects ensures that this collaboration will continue to grow, and we expect to remain partners for the long run," said Renault-Nissan CEO and Chairman Carlos Ghosn. "This partnership has accelerated the time-to-market for significant vehicle launches and has been an obvious strategic advantage for Renault and Nissan. We remain confident about our relationship for the foreseeable future."

"Since its start in 2010, this cooperation has delivered what it has promised, and even more. And that's how we will continue to work together in the future – with joint projects that establish a win-win situation for all partners involved and create value for our customers worldwide. This is definitely a track record to be continued," said Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars.

The CEOs' comments come as the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler get ready to launch their first vehicles co-developed from scratch this autumn: the new Renault Twingo and the new smart fortwo and smart forfour. The Renault Twingo went on sale in Europe in September, while the smart fortwo and smart forfour will go on sale in November. The city cars are built on a jointly developed rear-wheel-drive architecture which involved teams from both sides working closely together these last four years.

The three cars, which are all on display at the Paris Motor Show, are independent products with an unmistakable unique brand identity. The smart fortwo is being built at smart's Hambach plant in France, while the Twingo and the smart forfour are being produced at Renault's plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia.

Project Portfolio Keeps Expanding

In June 2014, as a major recent milestone, Nissan and Daimler announced plans to jointly develop premium compact vehicles and to jointly manufacture them in Mexico.

Construction of a jointly owned facility in Aguascalientes, in the immediate vicinity of an already existing Nissan plant, will begin in early 2015. Production will begin in 2017 with Infiniti models. The production of Mercedes-Benz vehicles will follow in 2018. When fully ramped up, the Mexico facility will have production capacity of 300,000 units per year.

The premium compact vehicles will also be produced at other Daimler and Nissan plants around the world, including Europe and China.

Meanwhile, the two companies continue to supply each other with powertrains. In September, Renault began supplying 1.6-liter diesel engines for both the new Mercedes C-Class and the Mercedes Vito van. Renault is also supplying a 1-liter, 3-cylinder naturally aspirated gasoline engine and a 900cc turbocharged, 3-cylinder gasoline unit for the smart forfour and smart fortwo.

In June, joint 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 fully ramped-up.

In the van segment, Daimler's Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) and Nissan Motor Co. Ltd., have just signed a contract for the supply of finished commercial vans for export. Under the contract, Nissan will supply its "NV350 Urvan" (GVW: 3.5 tons) commercial van to Mitsubishi Fuso which will sell it as 'Canter Van' in the Middle East starting in 2014.

The final agreement comes a year after the two companies signed a basic agreement on September 11, 2013.

About Daimler
Daimler AG is one of the world's most successful automotive companies. With its divisions Mercedes-Benz Cars, Daimler Trucks, Mercedes-Benz Vans, Daimler Buses and Daimler Financial Services, the Daimler Group is one of the biggest producers of premium cars and the world's biggest manufacturer of commercial vehicles with a global reach. Daimler Financial Services provides financing, leasing, fleet management, insurance and innovative mobility services. The company's founders, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, made history with the invention of the automobile in the year 1886. As a pioneer of automotive engineering, Daimler continues to shape the future of mobility today: The Group's focus is on innovative and green technologies as well as on safe and superior automobiles that appeal to and fascinate its customers. For many years now, Daimler has been investing continually in the development of alternative drive systems with the goal of making emission-free driving possible in the long term. So in addition to vehicles with hybrid drive, Daimler now has the broadest range of locally emission-free electric vehicles powered by batteries and fuel cells. This is just one example of how Daimler willingly accepts the challenge of meeting its responsibility towards society and the environment. Daimler sells its vehicles and services in nearly all the countries of the world and has production facilities on five continents. Its current brand portfolio includes, in addition to the world's most valuable premium automotive brand, Mercedes-Benz, the brands smart, Freightliner, Western Star, BharatBenz, Fuso, Setra and Thomas Built Buses. The company is listed on the stock exchanges of Frankfurt and Stuttgart (stock exchange symbol DAI). In 2013, the Group sold 2.35 million vehicles and employed a workforce of 274,616 people; revenue totaled €118.0 billion and EBIT amounted to €10.8 billion.

About the Renault-Nissan Alliance
The Renault-Nissan Alliance is a strategic partnership between Renault (based in Paris, France) and Nissan (based in Yokohama, Japan), which together sell one in ten cars worldwide. Renault and Nissan have been strategic partners since 1999 and sold 8.3 million cars in nearly 200 countries in 2013. The Alliance operates strategic collaborations with numerous automakers, including Germany's Daimler, China's Dongfeng, and with regional manufacturers such as Ashok Leyland in India.

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Contacts:

Thomas Fröhlich, Daimler AG
phone: +49 711 17 41361
email: thomas.f.froehlich@daimler.com

Mia Nielsen, Renault-Nissan Alliance
phone: +33 (0) 6 10 83 31 33
email: mia.nielsen@renault.com