BMW seems determined to share the cost of MINI development far and wide.

Fresh from co-developing four-cylinder engines with Peugeot (for the 207 and the R56 MINI), the German manufacturer is now talking to Fiat about platform sharing and joint development of other components for application in Alfa Romeo models and future MINI models.

For Fiat's part, BMW could help with the relaunch of Fiat's subsidiary, Alfa Romeo, in North America.

Friedrich Eichiner for BMW and Alfredo Altavilla from Fiat signed a Memorandum of Understanding earlier this week in Munich. Eichiner is the member responsible for Corporate and Brand Development on the BMW Board of Management. Altavilla is the Senior Vice President for Business Development at Fiat and CEO of Fiat Powertrain Technologies.

"We are currently examining with the Fiat Group possibilities for the joint use of components and systems in Mini and Alfa Romeo vehicles in order to achieve economies of scale and thus cost reductions within the framework of our Number ONE strategy", said Eichiner at the signing.

For the present, neither company will reveal precisely what plans are in store from the agreement.

Sharing the costs of platform development will benefit both companies, since economies of scale don't apply to the same extent with MINI and Alfa Romeo models as they do for the larger-selling Fiats and BMWs.

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