Car UK May 2019

(Jacob Rumans) #1
Insider

Georg
K ac he r ’s
inside line

BMW and Mercedes have gone
public with their plans to pool
resources as they tackle some of
the big challenges of mobility:
ride hailing, car sharing, charging,
parking and the role of public
transport. But there may be much
more afoot: over a year ago the
rival German companies started
discussing how to work together
on underpinnings for some of their
cars. So far no agreement has
been reached, but the matter may
evolve into something concrete
even before Daimler CEO Dieter
Zetsche steps down in May.

If it happened, it could result in
shared elements for the 2025
1-series and 2024’s follow-up to the
Mercedes A-/B-Class.

Savings would run into the
billions of euros. But, adds a BMW
engineer who’s on the joint task
force: ‘Such a deal is of course also
a highly political affair with the
traditionalists on both sides being
particularly sceptical.’

The idea would be to develop two
platforms: MX-1 for small to midsize
vehicles (think 1- to 3-series) and
MX-2 for mid- to full-size cars
(E-Class and up).

Both companies have solid plans
in place for the period between
now and 2025; this mooted
scheme is about being ready for
the day when demand for EVs
takes off.

Zetsche’s successor Ola Källenius
and BMW chief Harald Krüger are
believed to have both tasked their
teams with exploring cost-effective
ways of differentiating shared
architecture, so that a Merc
still looks, drives and performs
differently from a BMW. Everything
you see, touch or feel needs to be
bespoke. Comments a member
of the Mercedes delegation: ‘In a
first step, we established a brand
bible which lists the critical do’s and
don’ts. Now we are in the process
of separating the items that should
be standardised from the elements
that must not.’

The plan of course excludes
Audi, which has more than
enough partnerships on the go
as part of the VW Group. But
Audi’s not short of ideas for the
transitional decade during which
it will make combustion-engined
cars as well as EVs: a fresh
approach to micromobility, a
more aggressive approach to cell
chemistry in combination with
higher voltages, a limited-edition
solid-state halo car manufactured
exclusively from 3D printed parts,
a pair of h-Tron fuel cell vehicles,
the e-Tron Plus system boasting a
combination of performance and
range batteries complete with
Beast mode (take that, Tesla), and
a modular one-engine-does-it-all
approach to PHEVs, where various
batteries are paired with the same
scalable petrol-fed four-cylinder
engine.

BMW and Merc buddy

up... Audi’s radical plans

for transition to electric...

Work continues on
the ‘spectacular’
Purosangue
‘The plan is to launch
[Ferrari’s SUV] in 2022 –
that hasn’t changed,’ says
CEO Louis Camillieri.
‘I’m not concerned about
being late [with the SUV].
I’m more concerned about
being the best, and I’m
confident that we will be.
Sometimes you have to
take your time in order to
get the best result. There’s
been some scepticism
[about a Ferrari SUV]
but we’re confident that
when the Purosangue
finally comes out it will be
spect acu la r.’


Sergio Marchionne’s
vision survives
(broadly speaking)
‘I’d say there’s been a
change in style [since
previous CEO and
chairman Marchionne’s
death last year] – we
developed the strategy as
a team,’ says Camillieri.
‘With these cars it’s a
question of detail. The
fundamental strategies
have not changed
dramatically, and they
shouldn’t, but when you
consider the specific
models, the details and
the customer focus, that’s
where there have been
cha nges.’

4 5

Expect the next
Ferrari V8 supercar
to be a hybrid

AI:me is part of
Audi’s blue-sky
thinking on
urban mobility

MAY 2019 | CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK 13
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