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Nissan, Daimler pause compact car project?

Nissan, Daimler pause compact car project?

Nissan blames the shift away from passenger cars.

Nissan and Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler have hit the brakes on a joint compact car project, according to a report from Japan.

The two companies formed the partnership to develop and build a luxury compact car platform for Infiniti and Mercedes-Benz to share. Newspaper Nikkan Kogyo learned officials paused the project because they're worried about the decline of the passenger car segment in the United States, the models' main market.

Infiniti's version of the car would have been built in the Aguascalientes, Mexico, factory opened in 2017 by a joint-venture owned by Daimler and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Nikkan Kogyo adds Nissan is worried about the White House's threat of renegotiating NAFTA.

There's no word yet on whether the partnership will shift its focus on another type of car, like a crossover, or if it's been put on an indefinite hiatus.

Nissan didn't confirm or deny the rumors. It merely told industry trade journal Automotive News that it's still cooperating with Daimler without providing additional details, such as the scope of the partnership.