Car manufacturers Daimler, Renault and Nissan have announced they will form a partnership which will focus on the joint development of small cars like Daimler's Smart and Renault's Twingo.

The three companies will also work together on the development of both petrol and diesel engines as well as commercial vehicles. No financial details have been released and it's not clear if the newly formed alliance will lead to job cuts.The three car manufacturers will continue under their own brand names, the alliance is mainly intended to cut costs.