Renault When Nissan Motor Co., Ltd It plans to revive 20 years of cooperation with various industrial projects, along with an imminent agreement to realign capital ties to improve a strained partnership.
The two companies will initially work on five projects, according to people familiar with the situation. One of them involves India, where the two companies are building a plant in Chennai that will make small cars, engines and gearboxes, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans have not yet been made public. , and is also involved in another joint work on commercial vehicles.
The desire to agree new common projects as part of a tripartite agreement, including with junior partner Mitsubishi Motors, has prompted the alliance to reunite after former leader Carlos Ghosn was arrested in 2018. It suggests that both companies are looking to the future.
With little indication of the potential importance of the planned project, Renault-Nissan can’t afford to waste synergies in the increasingly competitive transition to electric vehicles.
Alliance partner management met on Thursday to agree on a realignment of the Nissan-Renault cross-shareholding and a new joint project, people familiar with the matter said.
In addition, Nissan plans to invest in Ampere, Renault’s carved-out electric vehicle business, the people said. Renault is proposing to work on 10 of his projects, sources said.
Media representatives for Renault and Nissan declined to comment.
If all goes according to plan, the two companies are set to move forward after months of tense negotiations to reboot the 23-year-old company. alliance This includes joint factories, parts purchasing and, importantly, developing a common base for different vehicles to save costs.
Both Nissan and Renault need to improve their existing partnerships to keep up with the competition from Tesla, Chinese automaker BYD and other new entrants.
Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard and CEO Luca de Meo participate in Thursday’s Alliance meeting via videoconference.
The two officials said they had originally planned to travel to Japan for the event, but progress in negotiations made the trip unnecessary.
Following an alliance meeting, each company’s board of directors must approve the transaction. This would mean Renault would cut its stake in Nissan to 15% over time in order to undo the lopsided capital ties that have caused long-standing friction.
A joint event will be held in London on February 6th to announce details of the plans, the sources said.
The redesigned partnership will allow CEO De Meo to proceed with Renault’s complex division into five separate businesses, including Ampere.