Daimler declines comment on report it will build cars in Mexico with Nissan
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FRANKFURT -- Daimler declined to comment on a media report that it may build Mercedes-Benz cars for the North American market alongside Nissan's Infiniti brand in Mexico.
The report, in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, cited a senior source at Daimler as saying the two automakers planned to build a plant in Mexico to manufacture Mercedes small cars and Infiniti luxury vehicles, but added that no final decision had been reached on the project.
''This is speculation on which as a matter of principle we do not comment,'' a Daimler spokesman told Automotive News Europe on Monday.
In September at the Paris auto show, Nissan and partner Renault agreed with Daimler to extend their industrial partnership that will see the next Smart microcar and Renault Twingo built on a common architecture. From 2016, the companies will also start building a jointly developed four-cylinder engine.
Nissan currently has two plants in Mexico.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung report comes a year after Japanese media first said that Nissan and Daimler were finalizing plans for joint production in Mexico.
The Nikkei business daily reported in November 2011 that the proposed plant would have an annual production capacity of around 200,000 vehicles and begin operation in the first half of 2014. It estimated that the total investment in the factory could top $1 billion.
Both Nissan and Daimler declined to comment at the time.
You can reach David Jolley at djolley@crain.com.
