Renault Says Luxury Car Based on Daimler in Early Development
Renault SA (RNO), France’s second-biggest carmaker, is in the early stages of developing a luxury car based on a Mercedes-Benz platform as it seeks to expand its offerings in that segment.
The French carmaker, which helps Mercedes parent Daimler AG (DAI) build its Smart compact car, is studying whether a Mercedes- based luxury model would be a viable product, Renault Chief Operating Officer Carlos Tavares told journalists in a briefing.
“At least one vehicle on a Daimler platform will help us,” Renault Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn told journalists in a separate briefing at the company’s headquarters in the Paris suburb of Boulogne Billancourt. “The intention is to say that the exchanges with Daimler are not in one direction. It’s not just Daimler coming and making its little cars, its engines at Renault.”
Renault outperformed French competitor PSA Peugeot Citroen (UG) in reporting higher earnings and cash flow last year. Renault plans a new generation of its Espace minivan for 2014, followed by a new luxury sedan, Tavares said today. The Mercedes-based vehicle is the third luxury model planned, he said.
“It is about using their platform and designing a Renault upper body to extend to it what I might call the French touch,” Tavares said.
Production for the model would be “concentrated” in France, according to Ghosn. The platform alone would not allow them to charge higher prices, which are dependent on the car’s specifications, he added.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Webb in Paris at awebb25@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net
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