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Mercedes-Benz and Renault are to co-operate on a new modular small car platform and two separate engine ranges that will form the basis of a new range of Smart models and a new line of Renault city cars.

The platform is a rear-engined, rear-drive chassis already under development by Mercedes. It will be used in the next Fortwo, due in 2013, and for a replacement for the Forfour that’s scheduled to arrive in 2014.

In lightly modified form - the wheelbase and track widths are varia...Read the full article

 Interesting that Renault are having this. I know VW had to abandon their fully developed rear engine rwd new Lupo city car as the format was too expensive for making profit, so it's now front engine fwd, even though the VW engineers said the rwd setup was perfect, practical and the best option it got rejected from above. I have a feeling this Renault city car will not be priced competitively with other city cars. The smart is stupidly pricey too.

 

-if memory serves, the reason why the VW engineers ditched the rear wheel Lupo was because of stability issues i.e. they COULD NOT get it to work.

-just goes to show the superior engineering capability of Mercedes when compared to VW

-as for price the cars will be (from Renult at least) competitvely priced, just look at the current Smart i.e. around £6.5K; that tells you the Renault will be well priced.

-i wonder if this will see an merger between MB and Renault; I then wonder if Nissan will buy itself out of any arrangement with Renault and go out on its own?

-thinking about it, the VW engineers (who tried to get the engine in the back of the Lupo but failed) have also been overtaken by the UK engineers i.e. is not the TATA Nano running with an engine in the rear and was that not designed by UK engineers.

-nice to see VW have progressed since the beatle! maybe that is why they wanted Porsche? "can you get the engine in the back of that mr. Porsche, we tried and failed" said mr. VW

Interesting news, from what I remember they had been trying to find a manufacturer for a while that they could share engines and platforms with to save money on the Smart range and A/ B Class, which bring very little profit.

I think a full merger like CapsLock describes would be highly unlikely.

Mercedes also heavily share parts with VW in the large commercial van market.

I very much doubt this report, not that Renault and Mercedes will cooperate, but all the other infos seem wrong. New 3 cylinder engines have already been announced from Renault to appear around 2012, so why would they now buy the engines from Mercedes? Also Renault announced new 4 cylinder engines that have been developed by Nissan, maybe the author got the information wrong, maybe Mercedes will buy the new engines from Renault and Nissan, who knows. We´ll see as soon any company makes an announcement. Also I don´t see, why they would develop a rear drive platform to use for a Renault, but who knows, just wait and see.

VelSatis23:

I very much doubt this report, not that Renault and Mercedes will cooperate, but all the other infos seem wrong. New 3 cylinder engines have already been announced from Renault to appear around 2012, so why would they now buy the engines from Mercedes? Also Renault announced new 4 cylinder engines that have been developed by Nissan, maybe the author got the information wrong, maybe Mercedes will buy the new engines from Renault and Nissan, who knows. We´ll see as soon any company makes an announcement. Also I don´t see, why they would develop a rear drive platform to use for a Renault, but who knows, just wait and see.

Vel satis - you are quite right. Mercedes need a suplier for their smaller engines and also a co-builder for their small car platforms, now that VW and Mitsubishi are out of the picture. It sounds like a partnership that can benefit all.

I can only hope that they make another Smart Roadster in future years.

 A four seater version of the Fortwo, to be called the Forfour, and its a joint venture with another manufacturer?

I'm sure I've heard of that somewhere before......

CapsLock:

-if memory serves, the reason why the VW engineers ditched the rear wheel Lupo was because of stability issues i.e. they COULD NOT get it to work.

-just goes to show the superior engineering capability of Mercedes when compared to VW

 

I was relieved that VW saw sense eventually. Can't believe Mercedes would do another Smart with the engine at the back. Will they never learn ?

- not sure about that uncle mellow, the Smart has been a great success, the Nano has gained massive advantage and success from a rear engine etc

-the only reason VW GAVE UP on the idea was because they could not get it to work; the logic for a rear mounted engine also assists in things like pedestrian safety as well as overall size etc, next you will be telling me that VW wanted to make the Lupo longer with the engine at the front (to add in the pedestrian saftey etc) and make less money because they thought that was the definition of sense!

-face it the VW engineers got beat fair and square by Merc and the British Engineers involved in the Nano project; simple as, VW just could not get it to work, the rear engined Lupo drove them around the bend! - sorry, I forgot no it did not! (they could not get it to work!)

 VW are not stupid, they could easily get it to work, but the design makes it too expensive, i heard their directive was to be able to sell the car for as low as £4k and still make a good profit. The smart is a stupidly expensive car that is popular with wealthy people or those that have made a mistake. I live in cornwall and ever since the the first smart was launched up until today i have never seen one on the road, only one in my town parked on a drive. They are not a world success, they might be common in cities i dont know..

 

 

CapsLock:

-face it the VW engineers got beat fair and square by Merc and the British Engineers involved in the Nano project; simple as, VW just could not get it to work, the rear engined Lupo drove them around the bend! - sorry, I forgot no it did not! (they could not get it to work!)

 

 The Smart has demonstrated that Mercedes should have steered clear of small cars. It is good to laugh at , but has done little other than to tarnish Mercedes' reputation.

 The Nano is designed to be a safer way for a family of 4 to travel than a Honda 50. It works brilliantly for people in India.