Carlos Ghosn and Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche confirmed Wednesday that their 18-month old partnership is on track, including plans to build the next-generation Daimler Smart and Renault Twingo on the same platform. The two CEOs, speaking at a joint press conference at the Frankfurt Motor Show, also said they would expand their cooperation with Nissan’s luxury brand Infiniti to build a future compact car on a platform developed by Mercedes-Benz, among other plans.

Listen to the full audio recording of the conference.

For the full transcript, click here

In the global auto industry, cooperation on specific projects among automakers is becoming increasingly common.

It is, in fact, a signal of how our industry is evolving to sustain success over the long term – by leveraging size, scale and investments more effectively to create more value.

Here in Seoul Headquarters, at our Technical Centre in Giheung  and at our factory in Busan we are celebrating 10 years of Renault’s relaunch of Samsung Motors under Renault Samsung Motors,  and if one day there is such a thing as an Alliance company, then RSM epitomizes it!

Seminar of Renault and AvtoVAZ executives, held in Togliatti on 16 July 2010

How can Renault help AvtoVAZ get back on track? How can Renault succeed in Russia with AvtoVAZ? It was to answer those questions that representatives of the two companies' major functions met a couple of weeks ago .

In November 2009, the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Bajaj Auto Ltd. announced their intention to partner on the development of an innovative new four-wheel product for the Indian and other emerging markets.

Today the project took another step forward with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two partners. The signing of the MOU follows discussions between both partners to define the product, manufacturing plan and distribution agreements.

As stated when the project was confirmed in November, the design, engineering, manufacturing and supply-base expertise to create this all-new product will be executed by Bajaj with the support of the Alliance. The marketing and distribution will be led by the Alliance, with the support of Bajaj. There has been no change to this structure originally agreed between both partners.

On Tuesday, Carlos Ghosn spoke at the Detroit Economic Club. In a moderated Q&A with Dan Howes from The Detroit News, Ghosn covered three broad themes: the consolidation trends driving the industry, the shift towards sustainable (zero emission) mobility and the opportunities presented by emerging markets.

On consolidation, Ghosn spoke about the major forces that are creating the next wave of tie-ups among the automakers. First, if manufacturers are to develop the vast and complex range of technologies that are required to be legally compliant (emission regulations etc) and be appealing to consumers, footing that investment bill across the largest scale will inevitably drive competitiveness.

We have received many questions on the Alliance blog about the “new alliance of Renault-Nissan with Daimler” and whether this would be a new opportunity for Renault to enter the US market.

Video of Carlos Ghosn on the strategic cooperation between Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG.

Thank you, Dr. Zetsche… and good morning, ladies and gentlemen.

The famous German philosopher Georg Hegel once said: “Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.”

On a recent trip to India, the media repeatedly asked me why the Alliance has chosen to work with multiple partners in that market.  Partnerships and strategic alliances are not new for the auto industry, but the way in which the Alliance has chosen to work in India seems to raise constant questions.