PARIS -- French President Emmanuel Macron offered a political boost to the fraught partnership between Renault and Nissan, calling for their alliance to be strengthened.
The combination is "a giant and a force that must not only be preserved but developed through synergies and alliances in all their forms to make it stronger in the face of international competition," he said Wednesday in a speech to the French community in Tokyo.
At a joint press conference later in the day with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Macron said Renault and the alliance are solid and the role of the French government is to protect big companies and especially their employees. "We want the alliance and good cooperation with the Japanese," he said.
The leaders met at a difficult time for Renault and Nissan, whose relationship has degenerated into an open struggle for power since the arrest in November of former Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
The French state is Renault's most powerful shareholder and its presence on the board has long created friction with Nissan, which is pushing for a lowering of the stake.
Fixing the troubled alliance took on new urgency this month following the collapse of merger talks between Renault and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The French automaker held the discussions behind Nissan's back, and in a last-minute maneuver the government toppled a planned deal, saying a clear backing by the Japanese company was missing.
On Tuesday, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa said the company will speed up talks to strengthen the two-decade-old partnership, which is defined by a lopsided shareholding structure. Renault holds a 43 percent stake in Nissan with voting rights and Nissan has 15 percent in the French company without them.
Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, who is traveling with Macron, has pushed for a merger with Nissan, which also irked the Japanese company. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has said repairing the alliance should be a priority for the automakers, while Senard has expressed deep disappointment at the collapse of the planned tie-up with FCA.
There are no talks with FCA, and the idea of a potential resumption of the negotiations with Nissan at the table is "totally hypothetical," Senard told reporters on the sidelines of Nissan's shareholder meeting Tuesday, according to French newspaper Les Echos.
Ghosn has been charged in Japan with financial crimes -- which he denies -- and is awaiting trial. Macron on Wednesday said the former alliance boss should be presumed innocent until proven guilty and given the right to defend himself.
