Cooperation
The GM/DaimlerChrysler partnership was announced on December 13, 2004 with Dieter Zetsche of DaimlerChrysler joining Rick Wagoner of GM on stage with a prototype. The agreement was not signed until the following August, however.
GM is reportedly responsible for development of rear- and four-wheel drive truck and front wheel drive car systems while DaimlerChrysler is focused on a rear wheel drive luxury car application.
It was announced on September 7, 2005 that BMW would also join the alliance, likely using archrival DaimlerChrysler's rear wheel drive system.
The three companies have formed an organization called Global Hybrid Cooperation with engineering and management centered at the GM, DaimlerChrysler and BMW Hybrid Development Center in Troy, Michigan. Recent reports indicate that the three automakers will spend one billion US dollars between them on the development of the front- and rear-wheel drive hybrid transmissions.
On March 1, 2007, BMW and DaimlerChrysler announced that they are expanding their partnership and moving quickly to develop a mild hybrid module for rear wheel drive premium cars. They plan to roll out the new system within the next three years on BMW and Mercedes-Benz vehicles produced. In 2009 Mercedes released the S400 hybrid using a lithium ion battery.
GM is not part of this expanded partnership, and has not announced plans to develop a hybrid RWD system for cars.
It was reported in July 2009, however, that after the upcoming introductions of two-mode versions of the BMW X6 globally and the Mercedes-Benz M class only in the United States, the joint venture would be dissolved. Daimler indicated that it wants to avoid investing in aftersales and service for a vehicle which will only be produced in small quantities, and will instead concentrate on modular hybrid building blocks with scalable lithium-ion batteries, based on the hybrid drive developed for the S-class and 7-series sedans in another joint venture with BMW and auto supplier Continental AG.
Read more about this topic: Global Hybrid Cooperation
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