Road Tripper

Yesterday, at the Tokyo Motor Show, the Chief Executive Officer for the renamed Daimler AG, Dieter Zetsche announced that a deal over engines with BMW is less likely this year.

“We are entertaining discussions with a number of carmakers, including BMW,” Zetsche told a group interview at the Tokyo Motor Show.

“No decision has been made…but going forward, I do not exclude cooperation, including in parts and other areas, with BMW,” he said.

“We are studying whether it makes sense, whether we can arrive at a win-win situation for both.

“Such a study takes time. It is unlikely that there will be a decision this year – probably next year,” he said.

According to a report in Auto Bild, a German Magazine, Daimler AG is planning to use a four-cylinder direct injection engines developed by BMW’s Mini brand and built by PSA Peugeot Citroen in the next generation of compact cars to carry the Mercedes Benz star.

The magazine also said that Daimler also plans to utilize engines in the new B-class compact from 2011, disregarding the prospect of using a platform of Italy’s Fiat for Mercedes compact cars.

Zetsche said Daimler, which has Mercedes’ passenger car and truck brands, was also in exploratory talks with other carmakers but he declined to confirm whether that meant with Fiat.

“It is true that I see (Fiat Group CEO) Sergio Marchionne often. He is ACEA chairman and is in Formula 1. But I do not want to make a statement here that we are in talks with Fiat,” he said. ACEA is the organisation of European carmakers.

Daimler AG and BMW (makes original BMW M3 parts) had worked together previously with General Motors as the three automakers worked with dual-mode hybrids.

According to a Daimler spokesperson in Germany, their company already decided not to work with Chrysler LLC in the development of new generation Mercedes-Benz compact cars. Daimler AG recently sold its American subsidiary to Cerberus Capital Management LP.