As is tradition with the Hemmings Six Degrees of Automotive Separation Challenge, anytime any new automotive connections are forged by still-existing automakers, we get to explore the myriad ways in which they were already connected. So this week’s news that Mercedes has inked a deal with Renault-Nissan to share platforms and technology lands all three companies in our spotlight.
Two of the three here have been building cars since about the dawn of time, spreading connections all over the place, so this should be a fairly simple challenge this week: Connect Mercedes to either Renault or Nissan in six degrees or less. To add a bit of a challenge, I’m already going to eliminate the most obvious path (obvious to me at least: Daimler-Chrysler-AMC/Jeep-Renault), so tell me how many other ways these companies can be linked. As always, a degree of separation consists of one company owning another, merging with another or sharing another’s parts.