Scion’s latest sedan is made by Mazda, while Mercedes’ latest EV uses Tesla technology. BMW and Toyota are also working on a new sports car together. Automakers all over the world are collaborating on new products, but why?
In this day and age, the research and development of a new vehicle for a major automaker has become a global project and can cost billions of dollars.
Look at global emission standards, for example.
I think the Daimler-Renault-Nissan partnership is one of the most successful ones so far.
Badge engineering is a typical downfall of poor partnerships.
In the very original stages of planning Mazda2 production, we had always intended that there were going to be 50,000 vehicles intended for Toyota.
Look at the current EV fast charging options.