(AFP) - DaimlerChrysler, the world's number five car makers, has expressed skepticism with regard to a proposed tie-up between General Motors and French Japanese alliance Renault-Nissan, a German newspaper has reported.
Expectations regarding the cost-saving potential of such mega-mergers were often exaggerated, DaimlerChrysler chief Dieter Zetsche was quoted as telling a news conference in Tokyo, according to business daily Handelsblatt, reports Trend.
The targeted economies of scale, via common platforms, were smaller because the two partners already mass-produced their various models, Zetsche argued.
And Renualt and Nissan already achieved substantial cost savings by using common suppliers for three quarters of all their different parts.
US billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, a major shareholder in GM, suggested last week that the US giant cooperate with Renault-Nissan.