Renault and Nissan “rebalance” their alliance

A “new spirit”. The Renault-Nissan Alliance starts again on a “rebalanced” basis and new industrial projects, in the electrical sector and in new countries, after 24 years of marriage and rumors of divorce.

While Renault owned 43.4% of Nissan, the companies will strike a new 15-year deal under which they will have a “15% cross-shareholding”, they announced at a press conference in London on Monday.

Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, which joined the alliance in 2016, negotiated for many months the details of this agreement, validated Sunday evening by the board of directors of Renault, and Monday morning by that of Nissan, indicated the two groups. It is the end of a long French domination, which began in 1999 with the entry of Renault into the capital of Nissan.

The relationship had been complicated by the surprise rise of the French state to the capital of Renault, in 2015, then by the spectacular fall of Carlos Ghosn, then boss of the alliance, and arrested at the end of 2018 in Japan for accusations of financial embezzlement. .

The discussions were particularly stumbling around the question of Nissan’s technological patents, according to sources close to the covenant.

Nissan boss Makoto Uchida stressed on Monday that this rebalancing was necessary to rebuild “a culture of transparency and respect” between manufacturers.

“Based on this agreement, there is the reactivation of the commercial and industrial initiatives initiated with the alliance”, underlined the general manager of Renault, Luca de Meo. “We will be consistent, result-oriented, generous and fair, as we have been during these negotiations,” he told Uchida.

“Return of confidence”

However, the French group will not immediately sell the rest of its Nissan shares (28.4%), because their market value is much lower than that currently recorded in its accounts. Renault will continue to receive the dividends.

When the context is “commercially reasonable”, these shares can be resold for the benefit of Renault, and Nissan can make the first offer.

As part of this alliance with 375,000 employees, Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi are already collaborating on many vehicles, with savings as a result. Renaults and Nissans share the same engines, and Renaults are sold under the Mitsubishi badge.

With the new agreement, the partners also announced several new industry initiatives, particularly in the Indian and South American markets, which could bring them “hundreds of millions of euros, or billions each year”, Mr. De said. Meo. Nissan, which has a factory in India, will market “new SUVs” there, including a derivative of the small Dacia Spring.

In Argentina, Nissan will launch a pickup designed by Renault. In Mexico, where Nissan is one of the market leaders, the Japanese manufacturer will relaunch Renault by producing one of its models there.

Nissan and Renault also plan to launch in these markets, where their margin of progress remains enormous, two small common electric vehicles.

In Europe, Renault will share with Nissan its next electric utility project, the FlexEVan. And beyond 2026, Nissan and Renault will explore “opportunities for collaboration” in the king segment of the market, mid-size cars.

In total, the three partners intend to jointly invest 23 billion euros in electrification over the next five years.

After this long period of unrest, Nissan has yet to clarify its involvement in Renault’s projects: the group said on Monday that it would buy up to 15% of the shares of Ampere, the future electric subsidiary of Losange.

Nissan’s stake in Ampere will depend on the extent of the patents that the Japanese group wants to place in this company. Mitsubishi must also specify the height of its participation.