The Renault-Nissan Alliance, formerly known as the Renault-Nissan Alliance, is a French-Japanese strategic alliance between the automakers Nissan, headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and Mitsubishi Motors, headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Nissan, Nissan, and Mitsubishi Motors collectively sell more than 1 in 9 vehicles globally. Since 1999, Renault and Nissan have been strategic partners. Together, they manage eight key brands, including Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Infiniti, Renault Samsung, Dacia, Alpine, and Venucia. The auto industry group, which produces the majority of light vehicles globally, sold 10.6 million vehicles in 2017. One year after Nissan purchased a controlling stake in Mitsubishi and subsequently became Mitsubishi an equal partner in the Alliance, the Alliance changed its name in September 2017.
The Alliance has sold more than 1 million light-duty electric vehicles globally since 2009, making it one of the top manufacturers of electric vehicles as of December 2021 [update]. The Nissan Leaf and Renault Zoe all-electric cars are the best-selling models in their EV lineup.
A merger or acquisition is not involved in the strategic cooperation between Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. A cross-sharing arrangement ties the three businesses together. When the auto industry began to consolidate in the 1990s, this structure stood out. It later served as a model for General Motors, the PSA Group, Mitsubishi, the Volkswagen Group, and Suzuki, albeit the latter union was a failure. The Alliance has expanded significantly, establishing new alliances with automakers including China’s Dongfeng and Germany’s Daimler.
Press analysts have questioned the stability of the Alliance’s shareholding agreement as well as the Alliance’s long-term viability in the wake of Carlos Ghosn, the alliance’s chairman and CEO, being arrested, imprisoned, and fired from the alliance and all of its components in November 2018. Additionally, these analysts point out that because the recent business strategies of the corporations are intertwined, any attempts to restructure the Alliance may be detrimental to all of the members.
In This Article...
Renault and Nissan announce a survival strategy, ruling out a combination.
- According to sources speaking to Reuters, the new plan, which calls for decreasing the alliance’s vehicle ranges by a fifth, pooling manufacturing by region, and utilizing shared designs, is intended to work as a peace treaty.
- At a joint news conference, Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard stated, “We don’t need a merger to be efficient.
After the news board meeting, the Alliance Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi executives held a joint press conference at Nissan Headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, on March 12, 2019.
On Wednesday, Renault, Nissan Motor Co., and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. ruled out a merger in favor of a strategy to more closely coordinate automobile production in order to cut costs and save their strained alliance.
Since Carlos Ghosn, the partnership’s key architect, was arrested, the companies have been heavily damaged by the coronavirus pandemic. Ghosn had been pushing for a merger over strong opposition from Nissan.
He also stated that he hoped to make an announcement in the upcoming weeks and that current relations with Germany’s Daimler, which owns Mercedes-Benz, may be strengthened.
Prior to the coronavirus crisis, Renault and Nissan were two of the world’s weakest automakers and lacked a clear strategy for using their alliance to recover and split the cost of investing in new technologies like electric vehicles.
While the two largest automakers, Volkswagen and Toyota, currently function as a single entity, competitors like Peugeot and Fiat Chrysler have been moving ahead with plans to combine expenses and designs.
Following Wednesday’s developments, Renault shares, which had been negatively impacted by the disputes with Nissan and the French automaker’s first loss in ten years, increased by about 20%.
The French government plans to provide Renault 5 billion euros ($5.5 billion) in state help, but in exchange, it wants Renault to continue producing cars in France.
SERPRESULT
BASICS OF THE RENAULT-NISSAN ALLIANCE The Renault-Nissan Alliance is the first agreement of its sort between a Japanese and a French firm, each of which was signed on March 27, 1999.
Describe the Alliance.
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, the largest automotive alliance in the world, was established in 1999 to promote member companies’ profitability and competitiveness.
This distinctive strategy makes use of the leadership advantages of each member firm, combining their abilities, technologies, and skills to speed up innovation, enhance cost-efficiency, and generate value.
The struggling Franco-Japanese auto industry union wants to try again.
A kinder, more cohesive society might result from THE PANDEMIC. Certainly, that has an impact on the alliance between Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi. While teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, it has been competing for the title of largest automaker in the world. The union declared on May 27 that, like a couple set to divorce rekindling old loves during lockdown, they would give it another go out of worry that covid-19 may irreparably harm some auto manufacturers.
In an effort to avoid the drawbacks of a complete merger, the alliance was established in 1999. When manufacturing cars, these had frequently resulted in tears. However, in particular, the cross-shareholdings that kept Renault and Nissan together generated resentment. Nissan is a Japanese company, while Renault, a French company, owns a controlling 43.4% of it. Nissan also holds a 15% non-voting share in Renault. The French government’s influence over Nissan, which recently accounted for the majority of the group’s revenues, was felt through a 15% investment in Renault. Joint projects were challenging to handle because the engineers from the three organizations rarely agreed. The end appeared imminent when Carlos Ghosn, the person in charge of the tie-up, was detained in Japan in 2018 on suspicion of financial malfeasance.
The new strategy both accelerates and stifles Mr. Ghosn’s aspirations. According to Jean-Dominique Senard, head of both the alliance and Renault, the ex-intentions boss’s for a merger are dead. His ambition to rule the world is also unsuccessful. The partnership would prioritize profitability over volume, a strategy that helped Renault’s French rival PSA Group turn things around. Each member will concentrate on becoming a regional force rather than a global one: Nissan in North America, China, and Japan; Mitsubishi in South-East Asia; Renault in Europe, Africa, and South America.
The three companies will save expenses by sharing parts rather than just platforms, which is the fundamental building block of automobiles. According to Mr. Senard, this innovative strategy will reduce the price of building a new small SUV by EUR2 billion ($2.2 billion). The partnership will become “the most powerful combination of corporations in the world” in a few years thanks to all of this, he claims. Investors enjoy the way it sounds. Nissan’s stock price rose 12.5% today, while Renault’s soared 17%.
The enthusiasm could be unfounded. The subsequent decline in the world auto market and the consequences of Mr. Ghosn’s incarceration have hurt the triumvirate. Now, the virus might reduce industry sales this year by 20%. Nissan announced its first financial deficit since 2009 on May 28th, reporting a Y=40.5bn ($372m) annual operating loss. Even worse is the state of Renault. France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, warned that it might “disappear” without government assistance. Renault’s own dismal results may be accompanied by information of a EUR5 billion rescue plan, which is anticipated on May 29.
That annoys me. Nissan, which also announced it would eliminate facilities, cut back on its lineup of automobiles, and reduce production capacity by 20%. The same should be done by Renault, but in order to satisfy its major shareholder, plants must remain open in France. On July 1st, Luca de Meo assumes leadership of Renault after leading SEAT, a division of the Volkswagen Group in Germany, to success. To maintain peace, the former marketer will need to use all of his persuasive skills.
Kiss and make up was the headline of this item, which featured in the Business section of the print edition.
Is Nissan severing ties with Renault?
According to a Friday Bloomberg story, Renault may think about reducing its Nissan ownership as part of its efforts to separate its electric vehicle company. In an effort to catch up to competitors like Tesla (TSLA.O) and Volkswagen (VOWG p.DE), the French automaker has been moving forward with plans to divide its electric and combustion-engine operations. View More
On Friday, Renault stated that all alternatives, including a potential public listing in the second half of 2023, were on the table for the separation of the electric car business.
Nissan, Renault’s alliance partner, would need to approve any proposals, according to the company’s finance head Thierry Pieton, who also noted that Nissan was “in the loop” as Renault considered its alternatives.
In Tokyo, Nissan’s stock dropped to 509.8 yen, its lowest level since early March, outperforming an almost 2% decrease in the Nikkei (.N225) index.
The two-decade-old alliance between the automakers, which also includes Mitsubishi Motors (7211.T), was upended in 2018 when alliance founder Carlos Ghosn was fired amid a financial scandal. Since then, they have promised to combine more funds.
They said in January that they will collaborate more closely to produce electric vehicles. For the following five years, they provided a $26 billion investment plan in detail.
However, the tension in Japan has traditionally stemmed from their unequal relationship. Nissan, which has a 15% non-voting stake in its shareholder, is owned by Renault to the tune of 43.4% of Nissan. Twenty years ago, Renault saved Nissan, but today Renault is the smaller automaker in terms of sales.
David Dolan and Satoshi Sugiyama reported; Bradley Perrett and Muralikumar Anantharaman edited.
Why did Renault decide against buying Nissan and instead choose an alliance with them?
The combined business would rank as the fourth-largest automaker in the world. The agreement made sense on paper for both parties because Nissan’s dominance in North America covered a critical vacuum for Renault and Renault’s cash helped Nissan pay down its enormous debt.
Why did Nissan and Renault pick purchase over merger?
By sharing production in a so-called leader-follower arrangement, where one company leads for a certain type of vehicle and area and the others capitalize on the designs and manufacture, the alliance hopes to reduce costs.
Senard said that would contribute to cost reductions totaling 2 billion euros ($2.2 billion) on next compact sports utility vehicles (SUVs).
According to the new strategy, the partnership will produce seven models in Brazil as opposed to six models across four platforms, or basic vehicle architectures.
The alliance, whose most well-known vehicles include the Renault Clio compact hatchback, Nissan Rogue crossover SUV, and Mitsubishi Outlander SUV, would drastically cut the number of models it produces by 20% by 2025 from the current high of over 80.
However, several experts raised concerns about potential issues, pointing out that the three businesses were tied together in a partnership while some bigger competitors were not restricted by structural restrictions.
According to Chris Richter, senior research analyst at brokerage CLSA, “this approach has been devised to prevent stomping on each other’s toes, but there could be some efficiency losses, as there are boundaries they have to follow.”
Due to disparate corporate cultures and divergent viewpoints on organizational structure, Renault, Nissan, and junior member Mitsubishi, which joined the alliance in 2016, have in the past fought.
Nissan is 43% owned by Renault, whereas Nissan owns 15% of the French automaker but has no voting rights. Because Nissan executives believed Renault was not paying its fair part for the engineering work it performed in Japan, Nissan has rejected plans for a full-fledged merger.
When did Nissan sell to Renault?
Nihon Sangyo Corporation made their debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1933. Real estate and insurance were the group’s main lines of business, while Nissan Motors was initially just a modest sideline. A
Nissan Motors kept growing and debuted as aDatsuna in the United States in 1958. The Datsun Type 15 made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show in 1959 and was the first mass-produced Japanese automobile (check it out, it’s adorable).
Nissan constructed factories in Mexico and Tennessee, respectively, in 1966 and 1983, to meet the growing demand for the Datsun. (In 2003, the Mississippi plant was constructed.) The initial Nissan Sentra was built and released in the United States in 1982.
Nissan Motors was partially acquired by French automaker Renault in 1999. For $5.4 billion, Renault purchased a 38.8% stake in the business. This resulted in the Renault-Nissan Alliance, and in 2017 Mitsubishi Motors became a partner on an equal footing.
The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance has today shown to be a successful partnership for all parties. As was already said, the Alliance is a prominent producer of electric vehicles and keeps pushing the boundaries of electric vehicle technology.