Nissan and Renault automakers have planned to put things back on track to improve their relationship, a news that should not settle the business of Carlos Ghosn.
Renault and Nissan should have celebrated the 20th anniversary of their alliance this year. This Tuesday, they decided to put everything back flat.
This is the whole building put in place by Carlos Ghosn which is being reviewed from top to bottom, not to mention being swept away. Since 1999, the two manufacturers are bound by a secret agreement, which is called the "Rama" and which sets the rules and balances of power between the two. To start again on new bases after months of crisis and tensions, it is now a question of abandoning this famous agreement, which would constitute a revolution in relations between the two manufacturers. And especially to rebalance the powers between Renault and Nissan.
What the Japanese have been asking for months?
Their goal is for Renault to reduce its stake in Nissan, which is 43% of the capital. That Renault goes down to 20 or 25%. In the Ghosn clan, some believe that the whole affair, from the beginning, has been pinned for this purpose alone. Meanwhile, the Japanese have a lever: they say okay to continue to cooperate on new industrial projects, even agree, why not, to work on an alliance with Fiat Chrysler-because this project is not dead. Basically, agree that the alliance will continue. But on one condition: that the balance of power between Renault and Nissan is revised in their favor. The negotiation is not over.