Infiniti’s latest model, the Q50 premium sports sedan, will be fitted with a four-cylinder 2.2 liter diesel engine from Daimler AG. The new model, which goes on sale across Europe starting this autumn, is the first Infiniti model to benefit from the three-year strategic cooperation with the German automaker.

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) will start supplying each other finished light-duty trucks for the Japanese market this January, the latest development in the strategic partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG. MFTBC is a unit of Daimler based in Kawasaki, Japan.

Renault-Nissan Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn and Daimler’s CEO Dieter Zetsche held their annual press conference last Friday Sept. 28 at the Paris Motor Show to update on the Alliance-Daimler strategic partnership which began in April 2010.

At the conference, the CEOs announced two new projects to accelerate development of fuel-efficient powertrains and confirmed that the original projects announced in 2010 have been accomplished or are on track. The first concrete results of that partnership are visible on the road this year – the Mercedes A-Class with a 1.5 dCI Renault engine and the Mercedes Citan, a small van built on the Renault Kangoo architecture at Renault’s Maubeuge plant in France.

The partnership between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler has reached a milestone with the groundbreaking on a new manufacturing facility in Decherd, Tennessee.

The new facility – located at the existing Nissan powertrain assembly complex – will produce Mercedes-Benz 4-cylinder gasoline engines for Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz models.

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

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.”