Source: Daimler, Renault may cooperate on Smart

STUTTGART: German carmaker Daimler AG and France's Renault SA are discussing cooperating on a four-door version of Daimler's compact model Smart, a person familiar with the talks said Wednesday.

The person, who was not authorized to speak to the press, said the two companies were discussing designing a new model and producing it together. The Smart brand, which currently only offers two-seater models, is produced in Hambach, in northeast France.

Smart produced a four-door model before, the Smart Forfour between 2004 and 2006, which it developed with Mitsubishi Motors, though it stopped production of the model, along with its two-seat Roadster because the company was not yet profitable.

Daimler has said in the past it would seek a partner to develop the project because it makes more sense financially.

Shares of Daimler were 2 percent higher at euro32.85 ($47.63) in Frankfurt afternoon trading.