Infiniti News: Infiniti To Use Mercedes A-Class Platform For New Compact

[William Maley]

Last year, Daimler (parent company of Mercedes-Benz) agreed to an alliance with Renault/Nissan which would allow the two companies to share components (engines, platforms, etc) and technologies. We've learned about what the first fruits of this alliance will bring forth and now there are new details of a another product.

Back in March at the Geneva Motor Show, Infiniti showed off a compact car concept called the Etherea. The car showed that Infiniti was working on a compact car to compete with Audi A3, BMW 1-Series, and Lexus CT200h to name a few. Now, we've learned that the Infiniti compact car will use the platform from the new Mercedes-Benz A-Class.

But why? Nissan and Renault have the knowledge on building small compact FWD vehicles while Mercedes is known to build large, expensive, rear-wheel-drive luxury vehicles.

“There are very few mass brands that make that walk into luxury. And there’s a reason for that, which is embedded somewhere within the way the products are executed and in the engineering. A luxury brand will need much better torsional rigidity, much better NVH than you would put into a mass brand. If you have a product that handles like an A-class or a B-class, with that level of NVH, with that level of torsional rigidity, but you can do it at a cost which is closer to where a mass brand would be, then you’re in a very good place from a competitive point of view. And that’s where we’re trying to be,” said Nissan’s Executive Vice President Andy Palmer.

Basic powertrains will include gas, diesel, and either a hybrid or fully electric version.

Source: Car & Driver

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