Renault and Nissan have announced major changes to the alliance. The “restart“ of the partnership is aimed at strengthening Renault and Nissan's positions in their key markets. At the same time, the companies will reduce cross-shareholdings. The move would allow Nissan to sell up to a third of its stake in Renault, which could bring the investment-hungry French automaker about $746 million.
The parties also lowered the threshold for cross-shareholdings from 15 percent to 10 percent, while maintaining strategic parity. Nissan, for its part, is releasing itself from its commitment to invest in Renault's electric division, which is called Ampere. Renault buys 51% of the shares of the joint venture RNAIPL (Renault Nissan Automotive India Pvt Ltd) from Nissan, becoming its full owner.
Nissan will maintain its business in the Indian market: RNAIPL will continue to produce models of the Japanese brand, including the Nissan Magnite. The Chennai plant, with a design capacity of 400,000 vehicles per year, will be the main location for new budget models on the CMF-A, CMF-A+ and CMF-B platforms.
Finally, Nissan will launch its equivalent of the Renault Twingo for the European market, with its launch planned for 2026. “As Nissan's long-standing partner in the alliance and its main shareholder, Renault Group is extremely interested in Nissan improving its performance as quickly as possible“, summarized the CEO of the French company, Luca de Meo.