#Daimler

Daimler is dead set against using the new refrigerant HFO-1234yf, even if it is forced down it throat. The EU makes it a must in all news cars, but Daimler says it can fry and kill you. Now, Daimler can get burned big-time. Without HFO-1234yf, its new S-Class will be illegal, but “using HFO-1234yf is out of the question,” a Daimler spokesman told Automobilwoche [sub].

One of the more interesting bits of news this week comes from France; the next-generation Smart Forfour (big brother of the worst car on sale today, as voted by the readership) will share a common architecture with the adorable Renault Twingo.

Daimler’s trials and tribulations should be a warning to those automakers who are too gung-ho about the Chinese market. The market is big, but it can hurt big when there are Chinese constipations. Daimler has been falling behind in China while its Bavarian competition by Audi and BMW racked-up double digit gains in the Middle Kingdom. Promptly, the Chinese flu affected the whole body. Says Reuters:

BAIC and Daimler announced last Friday they are taking the Beijing-Benz joint venture a giant step further. Daimler takes a 12 percent stake in BAIC and both parties will work closely together to win market share from Audi and BMW. On the ‘grass roots level’ the close cooperation has long begun! Above, a Beijing Auto E-Series with a Mercedes-Benz grille. How did that happen?

It was one of the worst-kept secrets: Two weeks ago, Reuters reporters had picked up the scent of Daimler planning a big investment into China’s BAIC. This week, rumors started flying around in Beijing that it is true. Today, Daimler announces, as expected, that “Daimler AG is going to invest in BAIC Motor, the passenger car unit of BAIC Group, one of the leading automotive companies in China.”

Now about those Benz-BAIC rumors: While Beijing is going gaga, Reuters has been suspiciously quiet about an upcoming deal between Daimler and its Chinese partner BAIC. Reuters, which has good ears and feet on the ground in China, had reported two weeks ago that something might be happening. Today, Reuters breaks its silence and says:

How do you beat the Dow? Occasionally, by reading TTAC. Yesterday, we wrote about Beijing rumors that Daimler and China’s BAIC are planning a big tie-up.

While we at TTAC are busy looking for the appropriate tie-up pictures, in case the rumor should prove true, the Dow Jones Newswire reports today:

There are rumors ricocheting around Beijing about a possible big tie-up between China’s BAIC and Daimler. BAIC is Daimler’s joint venture partner in China, where the joint venture handles Chinese production of the long version of the E-Class, the C-Class and the GLK.

Three years ago, we reported that the Chinese government was interested in buying some of Daimler’s stock. Now, it looks like it might be finally happening.

As predicted a month ago, Daimler did put a board member in charge of its lagging China business. Today, Daimler expanded its Board of Management to eight, and made its new board member and former truck chief Hubertus Troska CEO and Chairman of Daimler Northeast Asia. The job won’t be easy.

Smart asked fashion designer Jeremy Scott to come up with a special version of the smart fortwo electric car. Much to the horror of Daimler engineers who were used to fashion designers submitting patches of interior materials and color schemes, Jeremy Scott did put his trademark on the car: Wings, sprouting on both sides, and likely wreaking havoc with the CW coefficient.

Mention China to Daimler managers, and with a pained look, they will quickly change the subject. China is the superpower when it comes to conspicuous consumption, and even more conspicuous choices of cars, and horrors, Mercedes is lagging far behind Audi and BMW, brands that previously had been looked upon with disdain by Daimler managers. Daimler won’t take it anymore, and wants to put a board member in charge of its lagging China business, says Der Spiegel. It will be a demanding job.

Here is one car company that didn’t profit from Japan’s losses in China: Mercedes sales in China were down 3.9 percent to about 15,900 units in October, Reuters says. Daimler blamed the “very strong” sales of October 2011.

Mercedes wants to double its passenger car sales within the next eight years. By 2020, Mercedes wants to raise its sales to more than 2.6 million units annually, from 1.3 million this year. This is what Daimler CEO wrote in a letter to all employees. Automobilwoche [sub] has a copy.

Infiniti’s often discussed future premium compact model will not be built at Magna-Steyr, but “in-house in a European production facility,” Infiniti says in an emailed statement. The car will still “share a platform developed with Mercedes.”