Automotive News Europe — 2025-03-31
Automotive Industry
Renault and Nissan updated their long-term alliance, paving the way for more share sales as the Japanese automaker remains under pressure to shore up its finances.
Renault and Nissan can now reduce their cross-ownership to no less than 10%, from 15% previously, Renault said on March 31.f
Renault will take over the companies’ joint India venture, while Nissan will be released from an earlier commitment to invest in the French company’s electric-vehicle business Ampere. Nissan had pledged to invest €600 million ($648 million) in Ampere.
Ampere will develop and produce a Nissan-designed vehicle based on the Renault Twingo electric minicar.
Renault has been partially unwinding its alliance with Nissan amid mounting rivalries and mutual suspicion but still has a 36% stake in the Japanese automaker.
“The decision today gives Nissan additional flexibility, which would be the possibility for Nissan to sell assets and increase their cash position,” Renault CFO Duncan Minto told journalists. He said having such ability would help Nissan to restructure.
Helping Renault to expand abroad
Renault CEO Luca de Meo said the French automaker “has a strong interest in seeing Nissan turn around its performance as quickly as possible.”
Renault’s intention to buy out Nissan’s 51% holding in their joint Indian business is meant to help Renault expand abroad, de Meo said.
The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and expected to be completed by the end of the first half.
Nissan will cease making cars in India, which is the world’s third-largest auto market, and will focus on sales and service.
Renault will continue to build cars for Nissan at the venture’s factory in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu. The plant can produce over 400,000 cars a year but is only running at about a third of that capacity, industry data shows.
Renault confirmed its forecast of free cash flow of at least €2 billion in 2025, despite an impact of approximately €200 million from acquiring Nissan’s stake in the India business.
Nissan ‘committed’ to strategic partnership, new CEO says
Nissan’s new CEO Ivan Espinosa will take the helm on April 1 to replace Makoto Uchida after deteriorating results and a potential tie-up with rival Honda collapsed.
“Nissan is committed to preserving the value and benefits of our strategic partnership within the Alliance while implementing turnaround measures to enhance efficiencies,” Espinosa said in a statement.
Nissan has been plagued for years by declining sales. It has struggled to recover from the downfall of former boss Carlos Ghosn, the architect of the Renault-Nissan alliance, who was accused by the Tokyo prosecutor’s office of financial misconduct, which he denies.