Every year, a motor show alternates between Frankfurt and Paris. And every year, I host a press conference with Daimler Chairman Dieter Zetsche. There, we discuss our partnership on developing engines through the Nissan-Renault Alliance, while lounging in chairs. It is casual, and we invite the press. We have been doing this for the past few years, and I look forward to it every time.
Our partnership began in 2010 when Nissan Motor and Renault agreed on a business relationship with the German automaker, which included cross-shareholding. This partnership allowed our two companies to jointly develop chassis and engines for many of our respective vehicles, from luxury cars all the way down to compacts. We planned to exchange mutually beneficial information with each other in an open way. We began with three joint projects, but now that total has reached 13.