UPDATE 1-Nissan, Daimler to buy 3 pct stake in each other-Nikkei

April 6 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co and its French parent company Renault SA have reached an agreement with Germany's Daimler AG to acquire stakes of about 3 percent in each other, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Currently, Renault owns 44.3 percent of Nissan, while the Japanese automaker has a 15 percent stake in the French firm.

Renault and Daimler will hold interests of about 3 percent in each other, with Nissan and Daimler moving towards a similar arrangement, the daily said.

The capital tie-up will allow the automakers to build a long-term relationship, seen as a vital condition for disclosing technological information to each other, the Nikkei said.

The three firms are expected to share parts and platforms to cut costs, the daily said. Specifically, Nissan may procure large engines and clean diesel engines from Daimler, while supplying electric cars and rechargeable batteries to the German firm.

Additionally, the companies plan to cooperate in the development of environmental technologies, in light of increasing expenses in this field.

Despite poor sales for its 'Smart' brand of minicars, Daimler sees a turnaround by sharing parts with automakers strong in small vehicles segment, the Nikkei said.

The three firms had combined sales of 7.22 million vehicles in 2009, the Nikkei said, adding that it trails only the 8.6 million units sold by the alliance between Volkswagen AG and Suzuki Motor Corp and the 7.81 million vehicles by Toyota Motor Corp.

(Reporting by Isheeta Sanghi in Bangalore; Editing by Don Sebastian) Keywords: NISSAN/ ([e-mail]; within U.S. [phone]; outside U.S. [phone]; Reuters Messaging: [e-mail]) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.