日产-奔驰汽车联盟背后两个男人的跨世纪兄弟情

    上世纪90年代初，经营戴姆勒（Daimler）美国卡车业务的一位德国高管在南加州偶遇经营米其林（Michelin）美国轮胎业务的一位法国高管。

    两人一拍即合。从点头之交升华为兄弟情谊。上周五，他们宣布，雷诺日产联盟（Renault Nissan Alliance）与戴姆勒成立合资公司，从2017年开始在墨西哥生产豪华轿车。戴姆勒现任首席执行官蔡澈就是曾经经营戴姆勒旗下福莱纳（Freightliner）卡车业务的那位德国高管；而当前领导雷诺（Renault）和日产（Nissan）的卡洛斯•戈恩则是曾经的那位米其林美国业务主管。

    这两家汽车制造商已经决定协力在阿瓜斯卡连特斯共同经营一家新的组装厂，而日产早已在那里为北美市场生产汽车。这笔投资金额高达14亿美元，将建设一家拥有2条组装生产线且年产30万辆汽车的工厂。

    新工厂将生产奔驰和英菲迪尼（Infiniti）品牌的前轮驱动小型豪华车。

    “共同开发紧凑型豪华车和在阿瓜斯卡连特斯共同生产是雷诺-日产联盟和戴姆勒之间最大的项目之一，”戈恩称。“这也表明，我们从欧洲开始的协作已经开始走向全球化。”

    汽车制造商正在探索多种形式的合作以扩大规模，分担成本，而大众（Volkswagen）、丰田（Toyota）和通用汽车（General Motors）等大公司则利用自己庞大的规模优势对整个全球市场施加压力。戴姆勒曾于1998年收购克莱斯勒（Chrysler），但以失败告终。克莱斯勒最终申请破产并与菲亚特（Fiat）合并。

    相比之下，雷诺在1999年为日产提供财务救助，很快决定成立联盟（包括换股），但仍保持两家公司的独立性。因此，这两家汽车制造商只是在互利的项目上一起合作，但最近戈恩正在努力让两家公司走得更近一些。

    戴姆勒公司历来对自己的精英品牌梅赛德斯-奔驰（Mercedes-Benz）爱护有加，但它从2010年开始与雷诺日产展开了合作。这个联盟缓慢而谨慎地开展一些较具挑战性的项目。在墨西哥项目宣布之前，戴姆勒和日产披露称，日产将在旗下的田纳西州戴克德工厂制造梅赛德斯-奔驰C级车的2.0升发动机。

    雷诺则为戴姆勒的Smart微型车提供帮助：开发新车型，与欧洲老车型Twingo一起生产。

    获得梅赛德斯-奔驰的机械和电子技术来巩固英菲尼迪新车型意味着日产有望取得巨大的成功。日产自从上世纪80年代末开始就努力将英菲迪尼豪华车型提升至梅斯德斯、奥迪（Audi）、宝马（BMW）和雷克萨斯（Lexus）等一线品牌的地位。

    （当前全球最热销的豪华车品牌宝马预计在几天或几周内也将宣布在北美新建组装厂，地点很可能是在墨西哥，而不是在它的南卡罗莱纳工厂。）

    蔡澈已宣布了一个目标，戴姆勒到2020年要重新夺回全球豪华车销售领头羊的位置。梅赛德斯-奔驰可能将面对复兴的英菲尼迪以及其他挑战。与对手竞争的同时为它提供帮助，这样的矛盾对于蔡澈或今后的戴姆勒CEO会不会变得过于矛盾，目前还有待观察。

    与此同时，由法国、日本和德国汽车制造商构建的联盟看起来像是天生绝配，也是商学院学生津津乐道的研究对象。（财富中文网）

    In the early 1990s, a German executive running Daimler’s U.S. truck operations happened to meet a French executive running Michelin’s U.S. tire operations in South Carolina.

    The two were simpatico. Acquaintance blossomed into camaraderie. Friday, they announced a joint venture between the Renault Nissan Alliance and Daimler AG to build luxury sedans in Mexico starting in 2017. Dieter Zetsche, Daimler’s chief executive officer, used to run Freightliner; Carlos Ghosn, the former Michelin chief in the U.S., now leads Renault and Nissan.

    Collectively, the automakers have decided to operate a new assembly plant in Aguascalientes, where Nissan already builds vehicles for North America. The $1.4 billion investment will cover an assembly plant rated at 300,000 cars annually on two assembly lines.

    The models to emerge from the new plant will be small, front-wheel-drive luxury cars, branded as Mercedes-Benz and as Infiniti.

    “Joint development of compact premium vehicles and joint production in Aguascalientes together represent one of the largest projects between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler,” Ghosn said. “It also shows how our collaboration, which began in Europe, has become global in scope.”

    Automakers are exploring myriad types of cooperation to increase scale and share costs, as larger enterprises like Volkswagen, Toyota, and General Motors GM -0.87% press the advantage of their large size across global markets. Daimler acquired Chrysler in 1998 in a merger that failed, with Chrysler eventually going bankrupt and joining forces with Fiat.

    Renault, by contrast, undertook a financial rescue of Nissan in 1999 and quickly determined to create an alliance—including exchange of equity—while preserving the independence of both companies. As such, the two automakers cooperated jointly only on projects that made sense to both, though lately Ghosn is pushing the two closer.

    Daimler, while historically protective of its elite Mercedes-Benz brand, began cooperating with Renault Nissan in 2010. The alliance began slowly and cautiously, steadily tackling more ambitious projects. Shortly prior to the Mexico announcement, Daimler and Nissan disclosed that Nissan will manufacture 2.0-liter engines for Mercedes-Benz C-class models at its Decherd, Tennessee factory.

    Renault has helped Daimler with its Smart small cars by developing a new version, and manufacturing it, alongside its Twingo, which is old in Europe.

    Gaining access to Mercedes-Benz technology for the mechanical and electronic underpinning of new Infiniti models represents a big potential win for Nissan. Nissan has struggled since the late 1980s to elevate Infiniti luxury models among top tier brands that include Mercedes, Audi, BMW and Lexus.

    (BMW, currently the top-selling global luxury brand, is expected within days or weeks to announce a new North American assembly plant as well, quite possibly in Mexico, rather than at its South Carolina complex.)

    Zetsche has declared a goal for Daimler of regaining global leadership of luxury automotive sales by 2020. Mercedes-Benz is likely to face, along with other obstacles, a resurgent Infiniti. Whether the contradictions of assisting a rival while competing with it becomes too contradictory for Zetsche or some future Daimler chief remains to be seen.

    In the meantime, the alliance among French, Japanese and German automakers looks like a match made in heaven, not to mention a delectable subject of inquiry for business school students.