It is a war of nerves between Renault and Nissan. The two manufacturers are unable to complete their negotiations that began last summer. Three blinds are on the table. First, the review of the Alliance through cross-shareholdings between Renault and Nissan. And then, their industrial cooperation within the two new Renault entities, in electric vehicles and internal combustion engines.
Two weeks ago, a wave of optimism at Renault raised hopes of a solution by the end of the year. But since the beginning of the month, it has slowed down again. “We are not ready”, slices a source close to the Alliance. Nissan is firmly negotiating Renault’s requirements for its future electricity subsidiary, dubbed “Ampère.” The points of tension are always the same: the intellectual property of the Nissan technologies that Renault wants to use. “It’s about the batteries, the autonomous vehicle, the software, it’s very strategic for them,” acknowledges another source familiar with the negotiations.
Nissan mistrusts Google and Qualcomm
The confrontation centers on the number of technologies and their access. Renault wants to use as many as it pleases. Except that Nissan intends to protect your data, which will be transferred to Ampère. The Renault subsidiary will build electric vehicles for other manufacturers. The Japanese are trying to narrow the field of technologies that they will share with Renault and, above all, trying to block their access to competitors.
The Japanese are also concerned about the use of their technologies by Qualcomm and Google, Renault’s partners in its 100% electric subsidiary. The two American allies, a continent where Nissan is very strong, will help Renault in connectivity and driving assistance. Finally, Nissan is dragging its feet on Ampère’s economic model, which is still pretty vague. He believes that the subsidiary is not worth the 10,000 million euros that Renault expects. And for good reason, Nissan could invest in it and take 15% of the capital.
The shadow of Hari Nada
“There are intellectual property and valuation issues in all negotiations, recounts a close friend of Renault. The real problem is internal disputes at Nissan.” His boss, Makoto Uchida, is pushing for a quick deal. But internally, former vice president Hari Nada seems to be putting pressure on him. The one who orchestrated the coup against Carlos Ghosn in 2018 remained very suspicious of the French. And he still has influence in Nissan’s legal teams, which he led for a long time and which are at the center of the negotiations with Renault. “There is a lot of pressure on Uchida,” admits a good connoisseur of the Alliance.
Suddenly, the steering of the Japanese manufacturer is torn off from all sides. And Renault is getting impatient. In mid-November, the Renault executives’ trip to Tokyo went wrong. “Luca de Meo threw a tantrum against the Nissan management,” says a source. “He is furious with Nissan’s stop and go, which is weighing down the negotiations,” admits one of his relatives.
No deal before the end of January
In the process, Renault dropped the ballast and discussions moved forward, particularly over industrial cooperation on heat engines, the Renault subsidiary dubbed “Caballo”. At Renault we thought we were reaching the final stretch. We even hoped to complete a deal last week, when Nissan management was in Paris for three days. President Jean-Dominique Senard played his role as peacemaker to calm things down, but false hopes were quickly dashed. “As soon as the Japanese left Paris, we already found out from Tokyo that nothing would be signed before January,” is heard in the corridors of Renault.
For his boss Luca de Meo, time is important. He wanted to complete negotiations before the end of the year to quickly create the “new Renault” next year. Now, no one expects an agreement before January. “There will be no global agreement in December”, slices an executive of the Alliance. Especially since activity slows down in France between Christmas and New Years. In Japan, the truce lasts until Majority Day, January 9. The next meeting between Renault and Nissan will take place at the end of January, before the presentation of Losange’s annual results, in mid-February. A new perspective for this endless marathon.
Source: BFM TV
