Renault knows that we are facing a unique moment in automotive history. A time of change where the actions taken now will have a special impact in the coming years. The electrical division of Renault gains prominence, and more than it will do in the future. To promote the electrification of its range, the French could consider disposing of part of their shareholding in Nissan to gain liquidity.
The Renault-Nissan alliance was born on March 27, 1999. For more than 20 years, the French and Japanese have been working together to favor a commercial implementation of greater weight in the industry. Along the way, illustrious figures such as the Nissan Qashqai or the Renault Captur have emerged. Nevertheless, Renault, which right now has a very specific weight in the alliance, needs to change and for this it requires enormous sums of capital. Money that will have to come from somewhere.
Last February, Renault CEO Luca de Meo began to release the first signs of a more independent strategic plan. As we have already told you, the French are considering the possible separation of their electric range, a strategy that different brands such as Volkswagen or Mercedes, for example, are following. The idea is simple: create a sub-brand that is exclusively responsible for selling electric modelswhile Renault would focus on more traditional products for different markets.
Automotive News Europe Now it goes a little further in this new direction, reporting on the possible sale of part of the shareholding that Renault has of Nissan as part of the signing of the alliance back in 1999. The French own 43% of the shares of the Japanese firm, a total of 1,830 million titles. It is rumored that Nissan itself would be interested in buying all or at least part of the shares that Renault was willing to sell to finance its range and new electric brand.
Nobody from the alliance has said anything about it. Rumors also suggest that such a strategy would alleviate some of the tensions between the manufacturers. For more than 20 years, Nissan only has 15% of Renault’s shareholding without voting rights, which has been causing some discussions in the alliance ever since.. Both parties could be satisfied; Renault gets its capital for the development of electric vehicles and Nissan achieves more independence without having to say goodbye to an agreement that since 1999 has been quite satisfactory.
The capital from the sale of shares will allow Renault to undertake new alliances for the expansion of its electric fleet. One of the options would be with Geely. The Chinese and the French already work together, but this new injection of capital would allow the collaboration to be extended to a new level. Although no one from the brand has confirmed anything about it, the rumors are getting stronger.. The entry of Luca de Meo has been a revolution, although he is also facing difficult situations such as the paralysis of the company’s activities in Russia.
