Aston Martin and Daimler sign technical partnership

Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. and

Daimler AG have signed a technical partnership between Aston, Daimler and Mercedes-AMG GmbH. Recall the companies signed a letter of intent back in July, and since then have been discussing options for cooperation. Those discussions resulted in the agreement, allowing

AMG and Aston to develop new V8 engines; they'll be installed in Aston's next-generation models. Aston and Benz didn't give the engines' technical details.

In return, Daimler gets up to 5 percent nonvoting shares in Aston and an observer position on the Aston Martin Holdings board. The companies are exploring working together on electronic components, and said they will also look for other areas in which to cooperate.

By Wes Raynal