Daimler in talks for tie-up with VW, BMW, Toyota

German carmaker Daimler had been in talks for a tie-up with Volkswagen, Toyota and BMW before settling for Renault-Nissan, German magazine Der Spiegel reported.

Sources familiar with the matter had told Reuters last month that Daimler would be willing to take a stake of about 3 percent in Renault SA in April in exchange for its own treasury shares.

People close to Renault had said the company's board would meet on April 6 to discuss the matter.

Analysts have been subdued about the benefits of a Renault-Nissan-Daimler deal, citing a lack of potential for immediate and quantifiable cost savings.

Der Spiegel on Saturday reported that Daimler had previously been in talks with Volkswagen, BMW, and Toyota for a tie up.

Daimler Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche had been in talks with Volkswagen five years ago about potential cross-ownership, Der Spiegel said, adding that VW was in the end not interested.

"Why should we help Mercedes," Der Spiegel quoted VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn as saying.

Two years ago, Daimler was in talks with Toyota, Der Spiegel said. Talks moved along slowly. Now Toyota had to focus on solving its own problems first, the magazine said.

Finally, almost two years of talks with BMW led to an agreement to bundle purchasing of components, but the CEOs failed to reach a deal on joint development and production of engines.

Carmakers are on the hunt to cut costs by building scale and spreading the load of heavy investments in new technologies such as hybrid and electric vehicles over large numbers of cars.

Volkswagen and Suzuki made headlines in December as the latest in the industry to seal an equity tie-up, and small cross-shareholdings are not uncommon in the industry.

Suzuki Motor and Subaru-maker Fuji Heavy Industries hold a few percent in each other, while Toyota owns 4 percent of Yamaha Motor.