Nissan Motor Company and Renault have announced the start of work on a shared platform for their C-segment vehicles.

According to Reuters today, the alliance plans to build two million vehicles a year using the platform. Work started on a shared B-segment platform in July 1999. The two together would form the foundations of more than 50% of their overall production volume.

Renault, which owns 36.8% of Nissan, would the new C-platform from 2002 for the Megane, while the Japanese would begin using it from 2004.

By 2010, Renault and Nissan plan to share 10 platforms and eight engines providing massive financial benefits through economies of scale and parts cost and production savings.