Report: BMW, Daimler to end hybrid partnership

[HighestOfHigh]

BMW and Daimler have been working more and more closely together over the past several years, especially since the need to share costs and improve bottom lines has become so sharp in 2009. But despite ongoing partnerships for vehicle safety technology, the hybrid partnership that spawned the two-mode hybrid appears to be in trouble. A report emerging from Germany today via Auto Motor & Sport has a BMW spokesperson casting doubt on the continuance of the partnership with Daimler. The reason for the doubt? There are currently talks underway with other carmakers that might yield a better solution for BMW.

The report says that Daimler wants the partnership to continue due to the cost savings it can deliver over the coming years as hybrids expand through the Mercedes-Benz lineup, including the S400 and ML450 hybrids. Daimler's own plans for a fully-electric future are being laid at a breakneck pace, however, so a hiccup in its hybrid operations may not have as serious an impact as might appear at first glance. On the other hand, until electric drive expands outside of the Smart lineup in Daimler's plans, hybrid drive is the only way to make its Mercedes offerings greener without sacrificing significant performance.


- Report: BMW, Daimler to end hybrid partnership - [Two-mode hybrid] - MotorAuthority - Car news, reviews, spy shots

 

[HighestOfHigh]

BMW is always playing games. Benz I say let them go!

 

[Centurion]

Excellent. The idea shouldn't have crossed their mind in the first place. Electric drive trains are too important to treat as a platform for collaboration with main competitors. What will make or break manufacturers in 2-10 years will be their progression in electric cars. Toyota is already a giant leap ahead having made buck loads of cash on the Lexus RX and the Toyota Prius.

 

[LaArtist]

´good news

 

[Wolfgang]

Larry Nitz of G.M., Andreas Truckenbrodt of Daimler and Wolfgang Epple of BMW

I thought the partnership had ended already. As far as I know the global hybrid development center in Michigan was dissolved earlier this year, because the project is finished. Daimler engineers left and are now working in different divisions/companies/projects.

BMW was a great engineering partner as far as I can tell. BMW engineers were very good at what they do and reliable; in contrast to some of this online "BMW creative marketing" stuff...

I'm glad they may have found some other hybrid programs to work on. This one may be interesting:

http://www.peugeot.com/en/news/2008...d-technology.aspx?count=145&filterBy=1&page=1

 

[EnI]

BMW officials said a week or two ago the company would announce new strategic partnerships by the end of this year. Right now several talks are in progress.

Talks with Fiat are quite interesting, and so are the talks with Peugeot SA. Birdie said there were also multiparty talk in progress with one Korean, and one Japanese carmaker.

Not talking about mergers here, but strategic partnerships - joint-venture projects.

 

[Wolfgang]

A quick followup, this is good news for the BMW (and Mercedes) two-mode hybrids... More stability for the battery supplier.


Automotive News Europe

July 14, 2009 06:01 CET


SEOUL (Reuters) -- SB LiMotive, an electric vehicle battery joint venture between Germany's Robert Bosch GmbH and South Korea's Samsung SDI is acquiring U.S. battery maker Cobasys, Samsung SDI said on Tuesday.

Shares in Samsung SDI, a battery and TV screen maker, jumped 4.6 percent in early trading.

​

Cobasys, which develops and produces energy storage systems for hybrid electric vehicles, was owned by units of Energy Conversion Devices Inc. and Chevron Corp.

Details including the value of the deal were not disclosed.

General Motors was reported last year to be considering acquiring loss-making Cobasys, which supplies batteries to some of GM's hybrid automobiles.

Samsung SDI said in a statement that the SB LiMotive venture would benefit from Cobasys's technology and client base and that it planned to build the company into SB LiMotive's North American center.

Bosch invested €312 million to set up its lithium-ion battery joint venture with Samsung SDI. SB LiMotive started its operations in September 2008 and will start production of battery cells in 2010. The entire battery pack will follow in 2011, Wolf-Henning Scheider, Bosch gasoline systems division president, told Automotive News Europe.

 

[Mr Robert]

Daimler/Tesla

BMW/PSA/Fiat/Hyundai/Honda?

 

[Wolfgang]

BMW/PSA/Fiat/Hyundai/Honda?

You forgot AC Propulsion, Tom Gage.

 

[Wolfgang]

It's now about a year later. Thought some sales data might be interesting.

Source: New Hybrid Reviews, News & Hybrid Mileage (MPG) Info | Hybrid Cars

 

[Mr. Mercedes]

Are BMW and Mercedes still working together?

 

[Wolfgang]

Are BMW and Mercedes still working together?

Two-mode hybrid development alliance ended.

Joint purchasing is expanding.

Daimler plans to produce more cars in China and to broaden its cooperation with German peer BMW to include purchasing car parts in China, Weber said.

BMW procurement chief Herbert Diess told Reuters about such plans in an interview this month and said he expects to save about 100 million euros ($128.7 million) per year from 2012/2013 thanks to the cooperation with Daimler.

Read more: http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100914/ANE/309149980/1193#ixzz10nGGSRGB

 

[Wolfgang]

an update by Douglas A. Bolduc.

BMW CEO wants relationships that last

BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer is a natural at making people feel at ease. His warm disposition, genuine smile and attentiveness let the people in his presence know that he really cares about what they have to say.

Perhaps this explains why BMW has been so successful at forming or advancing alliances -- even with arch rivals -- during Reithofer's first four years of leadership.

BMW and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz share parts and a hybrid powertrain. Saab will put BMW engines in future models and may use one of the Munich-based automaker's platforms to underpin its 92 entry-premium car. PSA and BMW announced Monday they will extend their engine partnership to include jointly developing, purchasing and producing hybrid powertrain components for front-wheel-drive vehicles.

When asked earlier this month how much these alliances depend on a his ability to get along with competitors such as Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, Saab Chairman Victor Muller and PSA boss Philippe Varin, Reithofer said personality plays a big role, but that is not his main concern.

“A cooperation agreement has to outlast my time as CEO," he said. "Only then can it be considered a good cooperation agreement.”

Without being specific, BMW has said that the parts sharing alliances with Daimler and PSA will save it a fortune by creating economies of scale for key components. Selling engines and other technologies to companies such as Saab will keep BMW factories busy while generating some extra cash. With his contract now extended until 2016, Reithofer has plenty of time to continue making positive long-term relationships.

Read more: Automotive News Europe: BMW CEO wants relationships that last

 

[Wolfgang]

Fiat 500 EV - carblog.co.za

Feds award $8.4 million to Bosch/Cobasys to help develop batteries for electric vehicles

The U.S. Advanced Battery Consortium LLC today awarded an $8.4 million development contract to Cobasys LLC for the development of electric-vehicle lithium-ion battery packs and cells.

Orion Township-based Cobasys has been contracted to produce high-energy, 40-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery cells and increase the density of current lithium-ion batteries by 50 percent over the next three years. The current Chevrolet Volt contains 16-kwh cells.

The consortium is a subsidiary of the U.S. Council for Automotive Research LLC, a collaborative of Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. along with the U.S. Department of Energy. The consortium funds advanced-battery research and development.

In December, it awarded $5.43 million to several advanced-battery companies across the U.S.

Cobasys is a subsidiary of South Korea-based SB LiMotive Co. Ltd., a joint venture of Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. and Robert Bosch GmbH. The Orion Township company is also the North American supplier of lithium-ion battery packs for the Fiat 500EV, scheduled to launch in the U.S. in 2012.

SB LiMotive acquired then-bankrupt Cobasys in 2009. Cobasys started as a joint venture between Rochester Hills-based Energy Conversion Devices Inc. and Chevron Corp. to supply nickel-metal hydride batteries to GM’s early electric-vehicle efforts — including the EV1, which existed from 1996 to 1999. About 1,100 were sold.


Feds award $8.4 million to Cobasys to help develop batteries for electric vehicles - Crain's Detroit Business - Detroit News and Information