BMW has confirmed that it is talking to rival car manufacturers about selling them engine and gearboxes.
BMW’s head of development, Klaus Draeger, told [i]Auto Motor und Sport[/i] that BMW is in advanced talks about the possibility of licencing its engines to Mercedes.
“We are ready in principle to sell our engines to a competitor. And yes, we are talking openly with Mercedes about several possibilities,” Draeger said.
One strong possibility is for BMW to supply Mercedes with a new V12 engine it plans to unveil next year for use in the 7-series and the new ‘baby’ Rolls-Royce saloon. Based on a stretched version of BMW’s new turbocharged 4.0-litre V8, it could be used by Mercedes in both the S-class and the Maybach.
But Draeger also admitted that Mercedes is not the only car maker interesting in striking a deal with BMW – the company is in talks with Aston Martin and is also ready to sell its diesel engine technology to a US car maker looking for a clean diesel powerplant.
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Re: BMW and Merc to share engines?
What is going on?
The best 2 or 3 engine makers, arguably BMW, Honda, Porsche, should just colloborate and make all engines, from little 4 cylinder ones to big V12s, for everyone else to use.
Then the same again with chassis.
Hopefully, all cars in any sector will end up being the same.
Re: BMW and Merc to share engines?
Oh my word, the ground has just opened up before me. It's one thing for BMW to sell a diesel engine to Vauxhall for the Omega but this is something quite different. These two are the fiercest of rivals, and I simply cannot see this happening. Times are hard but the economic outlook can't be that bad.
It would be like Ferrari fitting a Porsche flat six into their next offering. Just can't see it happening at all. Mercedes strongest selling point has always been the quality of their engineering, what would this say to the world if they had to effectively buy an engine of their deadly rival?