I just learned about the amount and intensity of partnerships in the automobile industry. It's amazing how strongly more and more car makers work together. Sure the industry is still consolidating and development costs should be shared as much as possible, but I wonder why otherwise competitive car companies do not hesitate to share even sensible development data. BMW shares efficiency data with Audi for Benchmarking. VW is partnering with Porsche for developing the SUV. What is this all about - is there no competitive advantage anymore besides marketing and branding?

The NYT gives some insight on a Toyota/ PSA partnership:

"Toyota and Peugeot broke ground recently on a $1.5 billion joint factory in the Czech Republic to build very small cars for city use, and Toyota is adding a transmission factory and an engine plant in southern Poland."

There was a very educating article in the WSJ Europe on Tuesday; alas the online archive is not accessible without subscription.