Paris, Berlin : Renault SA, France's second-largest carmaker, said Daimler AG is a potential partner for sharing vehicle technology in a link-up that would lower expenses.
"We are in discussions with Daimler about serious opportunities, just as we are with other potential partners," chief operating officer Patrick Pelata told reporters at the French carmaker's headquarters outside Paris.
Renault is among "a number" of carmakers that the German company is in talks with on developing small cars, Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche said yesterday in an interview in Berlin.
Making a choice
Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler aims to choose a partner early in 2010 to share its Smart city-car brand and engine production for Mercedes-Benz subcompacts, Zetsche said.
"We are making progress" in discussions with other carmakers on cooperating on small cars, Zetsche said yesterday after a presentation of an electric-powered Smart. "We have contacts with Renault as well."
Renault fell as much as 48 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to 35.47 euros and was down 0.1 per cent as of 1.37pm in Paris trading. Daimler declined 46 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to 36.67 euros on the Frankfurt exchange.
"This is a deal that Daimler needs more than Renault," London-based Sanford C. Bernstein analyst Max Warburton said.
"If I were Renault, I'd be asking for cash because they already have the scale and low-cost expertise that Daimler doesn't," Warburton said.
