lol! this is too funny. you cite the gm/daimler/bmw jv as a system that "will no doubt be significantly better than IMA..." are you kidding me?? the dual-mode hybrid system that they're making is a hack. give me a break. gm, daimler and bmw have been caught with their pants down. they underestimated hybrid demand in the u.s. and now need to play catch up. the current hsd system is a joke because of the glaring flaw in its design that requires the electric motor to runs itself to death at higher crusing speeds. so, they purchase patent rights from toyota for hsd and then slap on a second planetary gear set, two clutches and lots more complexity just to make a hybrid that according to their own press release:

"will reduce fuel consumption at highway speeds much more effectively than available single-mode systems and achieve at least a 25% improvement in composite fuel economy in full-size truck applications." — Tom Stephens, Group Vice President, GM Powertrain

so let me get this right: let's take a seriously flawed system, fix it by slapping a second planetary gear set, a set of clutches, more complicated algorithms and control units and be happy with a 25% improvement in combined fuel economy?? oh and by the way, we will only sell it in full-sized suvs because the system is so complicated and costly that we need to bury the costs in the price tag of a huge suv. my guess is that this jv will fail and the dual mode system will be abandoned in favor of either electric motors in the wheels or a variant of a plug-in parallel system (read: ima system).

mercedes entered into the jv as an insurance policy and b/c it was great pr. they will wait for gm to introduce their first dual mode suv; watch it fail then continue on with their current diesel/hybrid plans. they currently use a variant of a plug-in parallel hybrid system very similar to ima in their sprinter commercial vehicle. there is speculation that mercedes will extend this hybrid technology and introduce a phev/diesel for the u.s. market.

sorry to be so blunt but nothing can touch ima in terms of elegance, economy, efficiency and end results.

fact: ima is a beautiful, simple, elegant hybrid system.
fact: ima is less costly to build and maintain.
fact: ima is more easily adapted to existing powertrains.
fact: ima delivers excellent mpg results on par with other hybrid systems.
fact: ima does not suffer from significant energy waste at higher cruiser speeds.
fact: ima doesn't need to lug around additional weight from a big heavy motor, a second motor and a big battery pack to drive those big, heavy motors.