In the midst of a blur since the fall in 2018 of Carlos Ghosn, the former big boss of this Alliance, Renault and Nissan negotiated for many months the details of an agreement, examined Sunday by the board of directors of Renault, and Monday morning by that of Nissan, according to sources close to the Alliance.

This agreement first implies putting the manufacturers on an equal footing: Renault and Nissan will each hold 15% of the capital of the other, against 43.4% currently for Renault, the partners had indicated at the end of January.

However, the French group will not immediately sell the rest of its Nissan shares (28.4%), because their market value is much lower than their value currently recorded in its accounts.

Within the framework of the Alliance, Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi are already collaborating on numerous vehicles, with savings as a result.

Renaults and Nissans share the same engines, the future small Nissan Micra will be based on the Renault 5, and Renaults are sold under the Mitsubishi badge.

The three partners also intend to jointly invest 23 billion euros in electrification over the next five years.

With this new agreement, they should announce several new industrial initiatives, particularly in the Indian market, according to sources close to the Alliance.

Nissan could benefit from Dacia's know-how in this booming market.

It could sell SUVs in India largely inspired by the range of Renault's growing low-cost brand, with the 100% electric Spring and large SUVs.

The Nissan logo on a car, January 17, 2023 © Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP/Archives

The two manufacturers would also plan to design a new common platform of low-cost cars to gain market share in Africa, Latin America or Central Asia.

In the midst of the electrification race, they should also develop a common platform for their future mid-size electric SUVs, to succeed the Renault Mégane and Nissan Ariya in 2028.

The height of Nissan's investment in Ampere, Renault's future electric subsidiary, should not, however, be specified on Monday.

Renault announced a major reorganization of its activities at the end of 2022, with the stock market launch of Ampere, planned for the second half of 2023, and the creation of Horse, a joint venture in thermal engines with the Chinese giant Geely, owner of Volvo.

Saudi oil giant Aramco is set to become Horse's third largest shareholder, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Nissan's stake in Ampere will depend on the extent of the patents that the Japanese group wants to place in this company, and the prospects for its future valuation, knowing that Nissan will not take more than 15%, according to the same close sources.

Divorce or a fresh start?

The rebalancing of the Renault-Nissan relationship is viewed favorably in Japan.

"For the alliance to continue to fulfill its functions, ending unequal relations (between Renault and Nissan, editor's note) which could further amplify mutual mistrust was an inevitable task", underlined the Japanese economic daily Nikkei in a fine editorial. January.

Other Japanese newspapers like Asahi and Sankei have headlined the dissolution of "unequal treaties" between Renault and Nissan, a phrase referring to treaties imposed on Japan by Western powers in the 19th century that disadvantaged Tokyo.

French Minister of Foreign Trade Olivier Becht defended this agreement, which according to him does not constitute a "divorce".

"I see it as a fresh start, as a promising start on a renewed industrial base," Becht said during a visit to Tokyo on Feb. 1.

The marriage of Renault and Nissan dates back to 1999, at a time when the Japanese manufacturer was experiencing great financial difficulties.

Renault then takes 36.8% of the Japanese manufacturer, and sends its number two Carlos Ghosn to straighten out Nissan.

The results of the Japanese manufacturer are improving rapidly after a drastic restructuring.

In 2015, the surprise increase in the French state's stake in Renault's capital, to establish its voting rights, angered Nissan, which feared a merger.

The Renault logo in Tokyo, January 17, 2023 © Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP/Archives

In 2016, the alliance expanded to Japanese Mitsubishi Motors, of which Nissan took 34%.

The three allies became the world's leading automobile producer in 2017, with more than 10 million vehicles sold.

Tensions culminate with the spectacular fall of Carlos Ghosn, who became head of the Alliance, and arrested at the end of 2018 in Japan on charges of financial embezzlement.

He fled a year later to Lebanon while on bail in Japan awaiting trial.

With the decline in their sales, linked to the market but also to changes in strategy, the three manufacturers are now in fourth place worldwide, far behind Toyota and Volkswagen, and overtaken by Hyundai-Kia.

© 2023 AFP