Infiniti G-Lineup To Get Mercedes Engines?

Mercedes-Benz, Renault and Nissan are not three companies you normally see together. However, that has changed - yesterday, as speculated, the companies announced a new partnership for engines and vehicle joint development.

It was commenced by each purchasing a small 3.1 percent stake in the other conpany. And they say politics makes strange bedfellows!

We're wondering the strategic logic behind this, and this bit of news about the Infiniti lineup is just one of the implications of this far-reaching deal.

Word has broke right on this news right from the top (courtesy of Automotive News - subscription required) - Renault-Nissan's CEO Carlos Ghosn. He said that the Infiniti's popular BMW-fighting lineup, the G, will be receiving Mercedes four-cylinder engines sometime in the future.

The deal comes as part of the company's plan to improve fuel economy in preparation for looming Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards. This is an interesting development because Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz are and have been competitors - again, strange bedfellows. Mercedes must view Infiniti as more of a threat to BMW.

The most likely engine to see duty in the G37 (what, now called the G18? Yikes!) would be the engine found in the international market C-Class.

That engine is a 1.8-liter four-cylinder gasoline turbo, which has been rumored to make its way into United States-market C-Class models in the future. There's no word on when this might happen, but it is likely that we'll be hearing more about it soon.