The two carmakers have formed a 50:50 joint venture that will oversee construction and operation of the new plant in Aguascalientes in north-central Mexico with a cost of approximately €1bn. The new plant (see video here) will be built in the immediate vicinity of an already existing Nissan plant and will have an annual capacity of 300,000 vehicles when fully ramped up.

The plant will kick off in 2017 with production of Infiniti models. The production of Mercedes-Benz brand vehicles will follow in 2018.

The carmakers stressed that ‘close collaboration between Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz at every stage of development, from advanced research and design to production, will ensure that vehicles within the scope of the project will clearly differ from each other in terms of product design and specifications’.

Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, said: ‘Joint development of compact premium vehicles and joint production in Aguascalientes together represent one of the largest projects between the Renault-Nissan Alliance and Daimler. It also shows how our collaboration, which began in Europe, has become global in scope.’

Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and Head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, added: ‘In Aguascalientes, we will take our successful partnership to the next level by combining the skills of our two companies Daimler and Nissan in one production plant. Just over four years after the cooperation was founded, the decision for the new plant in Mexico is a major milestone.’

The partnership between Renault-Nissan and Daimler began in April 2010, with three “pillar projects” primarily focused on Europe and has since increased to 12 significant projects, including major initiatives from the Americas to Japan.

This includes the start of joint engine production this month in Decherd, Tennessee, USA, with the facility producing engines for use in the Mercedes-Benz C-Class and in the Infiniti Q50.

Later this year, the Alliance and Daimler will start selling the next-generation smart and Twingo city cars, developed on a shared platform, the Twingo and the four-seater smart being produced at the Renault plant in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, the two-seater smart in Hambach, France.

The announcement also heralds the increasing importance of Mexico for car production.