Renault and Nissan Hold Daily Discussions as EVs Reshape Their Alliance

Renault SA’s chairman said he’s bullish about the carmaker’s alliance with Japan’s Nissan Motor.

Renault SA’s chairman said he’s bullish about the carmaker’s alliance with Japan’s Nissan Motor Co. (Bloomberg)

Renault SA's chairman said he's bullish about the carmaker's alliance with Japan's Nissan Motor Co. as negotiations intensify on reshaping the two-decade partnership that's been strained by an imbalanced ownership structure.

“We talk every day,” Jean-Dominique Senard said at the Paris car show on Monday, adding that representatives from Nissan and smaller partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. currently are in France. “We have an incredibly close relationship.”

Renault's push to carve out its electric-vehicle and combustion-engine businesses -- a plan that requires Nissan's nod -- has sparked bargaining on common projects. The bid has also opened the door for updating the alliance's cross-shareholding structure, a move that could alleviate an imbalance that's been a source of friction for years.

Nissan is willing to invest as much as $750 million in Renault's EV business, Bloomberg reported last week. In exchange, the French manufacturer is open to paring its ownership of Nissan to 15% over time. Renault currently has a 43% stake in its bigger partner, with voting rights, while Nissan holds 15% of Renault and has no voting rights.

Renault rose 3.4% as of 1:34 p.m. in Paris.

Talks have intensified in recent weeks as Renault gets closer to a Nov. 8 capital markets day, where Chief Executive Officer Luca de Meo is due to brief investors on strategy. Executives have discussed Renault's carve-out plan and the future of the alliance during meetings in France and Japan since February. Representatives from Renault will soon travel to Japan again, Senard said.

Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi presented a €23 billion ($22.4 billion) electrification plan in January that indicated the partnership may have staying power in the face of their costly and complicated transitions away from the internal combustion engine.

Any decision Renault makes also will have to be approved by the French government, which owns about 15% in the carmaker.

“We are extremely close and transparent with the French government” about the alliance talks, Senard told reporters.