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BMW, Daimler look to share expenses | detnews.com | The Detroit News |
For more than a year, German luxury carmakers BMW AG and Daimler AG have explored ways to cooperate and share some production and development costs.
The German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported Sunday that the longtime rivals may be close to signing cost-sharing agreements on such items as power window motors.
Both companies declined to comment on Monday, and some analysts said the timing of the report suggested it might have been intended as a distraction from what are likely to be very poor financial results at Daimler.
The Stuttgart, Germany-based automaker is reporting fourth-quarter and full-year 2008 results today, and analysts expect an operating loss for the fourth quarter, the first since 2007.
Analyst Jürgen Pieper at Bankhaus Metzler in Frankfurt expects Daimler to report a 300 million euro ($385 million) operating loss for the quarter.
The pressure on both BMW and Daimler's Mercedes-Benz division is mounting, Pieper said. "BMW is close to losing money, if it's not in a loss-making situation already."
"The top management at BMW and Mercedes realize there's no other choice in the end," he said.
The two automakers are struggling with slumping demand for luxury cars in their major markets and a growing competitive threat as Porsche and Volkswagen AG combine forces.
[source]
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