[The Automotive Enthusiast]

BMW and Mercedes-Benz could jointly develop the next generations of their compact cars – the BMW 1 series and the Mercedes A-class family – as part of a wider cooperation that would also include sharing technology for autonomous cars, a German newspaper reported.

The two automakers need to rein in costs so they can afford to invest billions in self-driving systems to avoid losing their technological edge to traditional rivals and newcomers such as Waymo, Handelsblatt said.

Sharing a compact-car architecture would save the two automakers billions in investment costs, the paper reported, quoting insiders with knowledge of the discussions.

If the discussions go further, the first joint compact cars would not appear before 2025, Handelsblatt said. Top management at BMW and Mercedes would face stiff resistance to such a plan from their own engineers, the paper said.

Mercedes parent Daimler and BMW already cooperate in some areas. In 2015, the two automakers, together with Audi, bought Nokia’s mapping company Here, and last year the two automakers merged their short-term rental services Car2Go and DriveNow in a bid to create more of a presence in the developing mobility market.

https://europe.autonews.com/automake...her-paper-says

[Sassicaia]

BMW and Mercedes already work together. How else could they release M and AMG cars that compete with near identical performance within each perspective class. There is obvious collusion.

[Mavus]

might as well invite vw/audi also ... they know a thing or two about fwd

[Chihuahua]

the end is nigh.

[The Automotive Enthusiast]

Guys, it can't be that bad.

[mkoesel]

I notice that there are no details about the type of drive system this platform might support.

Let's keep in mind that Audi has begun to design a future small vehicle lineup around VAG's MEB dedicated EV platform. Vehicles on this platform will be rear motor, RWD or front/rear motor, rear-biased AWD.

It is clear that premium vehicle segments are on a faster path to EV migration than the market as a whole. By late next decade, what share of small luxury vehicles be will be legacy FWD/AWD ICE/HEV/PHEV? I don't know the answer to that question, but I sure hope BMW and Mercedes have a good crystal ball because if they get this wrong, it's not going to be pleasant to watch.