Corporate Collaboration on Eco-Friendly Cars

It's love.

Hate it or love it, government regulations in both the United States and Europe are putting the heat on automakers to green up their line ups.

So in order to keep up, companies like Daimler (which has divisions you’ve heard of, like Mercedes-Benz) has joined forces with Renault (pronounced Re-Noe… it’s French) and Nissan to share technology in the ever-popular fuel cell, hybrid and electric car realm.

The Daimler-Renault Alliance, as gay as that sounds, could be a harbinger of more such technology-sharing agreements across the car manufacturing board.

You weren't sick of these yet, right? Cause there's a whole lot more where this came from...

Is this good for the industry, a chance for former rivals to unite and build incredible cars?  Or, is it the beginning of the end of free enterprise, leading to a single automaker run by a socialist government?

The idea of a Ferrari-styled Audi-engineered Honda-executed car makes my pants shrink, but I don’t think that’s the kind of thing these alliances are really designed to create.

I think tech sharing is a good idea, even if it dilutes the variety of the cars we’re offered somewhat.  Let’s face it, automakers already dig into the same parts bins to build totally different cars (If you’ve ever wondered why the interior of a Lamborghini Gallardo looks so much like that of an Audi A4, it’s no coincidence) so why not let them share tech that might help save the planet.

So go ahead Daimler, give the Frenchies your secrets… and put me down for an S600 that runs on raindrops.