As BMW looks at ways to share development costs in the coming years, the idea of sharing the MINI platform has come up again. However this time it’s Peugeot that is the potential partner. Here’s an excerpt from a Financial Times article that broke the news late yesterday:

>Norbert Reithofer, BMW’s chief executive, said BMW was talking to Peugeot about a deeper cooperation, but he refused to give any details.

>Industry insiders told the Financial Times, however, that the carmaker was in “preliminary talks” about a future shared platform for the Mini model family, which the carmaker aims to expand.

>In addition, the two carmakers are looking at ways to share modules – components that can be used in different car segments – for BMW’s main brand.

>The move marked a swift strategic foray by Philippe Varin, Peugeot’s chief executive, who joined the French carmaker in May and since then has met Mr Reithofer twice.

>Volume and premium carmakers have been looking at ways to co-operate in order to increase economies of scale in a competitive car market that has been faced with a sharp downturn this year.

>The implications of such a future co-operation for Mini’s “production triangle” of three plants in the UK remained unclear, as the talks are at a very early stage.

+ BMW eyes Peugeot tie-up for Mini / Financial Times