Nissan Says It Is Not Opposed To Potential Renault-FCA Merger

Nissan has declared that it sees no major downside to the possibility of Renault and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles partnering in a merger of equals.

Reuters reports that top executives from Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi gathered at Nissan headquarters in Yokohama this week as part of a scheduled alliance meeting. Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard arrived in Japan on Tuesday to discuss FCA’s proposal with Nissan.

“Overall, we don’t see any particularly negative aspect,” Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa told reporters on Wednesday.

Sources claim that the Japanese were unaware there were talks of a merger between Renault and FCA.

The French car manufacturer had repeatedly wanted to merge with Nissan during their ongoing 20-year alliance but was rebuffed, and there have long been tensions over the imbalance of power in the Renault-Nissan Alliance as Nissan only holds a 15 per cent non-voting stake in Renault. Moreover, there are some concerns about how Nissan will fit into the FCA/Renault giant as it is 43.4 per cent owned by the French automaker.

As for Mitsubishi, which joined the Renault-Nissan Alliance in 2016, its chairman, Osamu Masuko, said he was only informed about FCA’s proposal directly by Renault on Wednesday, a couple of days after news broke about the potential tie-up.

Speaking to Japanese newspaper Nikkei, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles chairman John Elkann said that a merger would benefit both parties.

“By proposing a business combination with Renault, our spirit is one of finding a common purpose that provides benefits for all our companies, embracing Nissan and Mitsubishi as valued and respected partners,” he said.