BMW and Daimler have worked closely in the past in regards to jointly developing hybrid transmissions, and they were once in talks to jointly develop next generation compact front wheel drive platforms. The platform talks fell through of course, as the companies felt that sharing a platform would not allow for much differentiation between the BMW and Mercedes-Benz that used them.
But here’s something new that the two companies have decided could be mutually beneficial without hurting marketing – seat frames! The latest news is that BMW and Daimler will jointly develop and purchase metal seat frames for some models, while leaving the exterior finish to be done independently, allowing sufficient differentiation while saving a little on costs.
According to German publication Spiegel, the two companies will invest a certain double-digit million Euro amount in the dev-share project, which is estimated to yield up to 200 million Euro a year in savings. Smart move!
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Interesting but not something unexpected. Both of them have common enemies.
total sales for both companies , multiply by average of 4 seats per car , thats alot of saving from a very simple idea….p1 and p2 should do same …
Maybe this can be done when Najib ask local car manufacturers to consolidate. Viva using Saga seat maybe. Or maybe sharing the muffler.
even BMW and Merc also can cooperate so…our local car companies should cooperate between temselves to save cost if foreign companies don’t want to share technologies with them..
Not many people knows that automotive seat frames are very expensive to develope becuse they are safety related and had to conform to current and future regulations. Hence even big companies like BMW and Diamler had to undertake such joint ventures to cut development costs.
one thing i am not quite sure is that why are there no manufacture come up with idea to share more parts like the air filter thingy etc.
merc and bmw cannot share platform, both completely different league. lol . but this is a good move by the german manufacture.
Because of profit margin lah. What else.
Simple stuff like air filter, oil filter etc are “cheap” to make but can charge a bomb because consumers must get the exact type for that particular car.
More complicated things, if they can share without compromising their brand/identity, they’ll share lah. Can cut cost. Price can maintain the same. More profit.
Business is like that lah. ;-)
hmm seat frames huh? Who would have guessed lol
https://pontiworld.com.au/usgmsp/images/SeatFram6769F.jpg
this frame right?? smart decision!
Quite a surprise, as both arch rivals could actually co-operate, but that is how both companies can actually save some costs based on the ever popular phrase of “economies of scale”. Seat suppliers such as Johnson Control or Lear could potentially be involved..