Daimler, Renault said to approve small-car alliance

Daimler AG and Renault SA's boards approved plans for a global alliance focusing on sharing small-car technologies and development costs, according to people familiar with the matter.

A deal involving Renault and Japanese partner Nissan Motor Co. swapping stakes with Daimler is set to be announced today, said the people, who asked not to be identified before an official statement. Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche and Renault-Nissan's Carlos Ghosn will attend a joint press conference in Brussels, according to invitations from the carmakers that didn't disclose the topic.

Automakers are under pressure to cooperate as sales remain depressed in the recession's aftermath while the manufacturers spend more on technology to meet tighter exhaust-emissions standards. An alliance of Daimler and Renault-Nissan would follow a tie-up between Volkswagen AG and Suzuki Motor Corp. earlier in 2010 and Fiat SpA's purchase of a stake in Chrysler Group LLC last year.

"The cooperation is really being forced by the European Union," said Arndt Ellinghorst, an automotive analyst in London at Credit Suisse Group AG. "Carbon-dioxide emissions targets can't be reached without selling a significant amount of small cars."

Florian Martens, a spokesman for Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler, and Caroline De Gezelle, a spokeswoman for Boulogne- Billancourt, France-based Renault, declined to comment.

Cross-Shareholdings

The agreement will probably include cross-shareholdings of 3 percent to 4 percent, two people with direct knowledge of the talks said April 5.