Nissan chief says inequality could unravel Renault alliance
YOKOHAMA, JAPAN : Nissan Motor yesterday threw cold water on hopes for a quick fix to its strained relations with France's Renault, saying inequality between them could unravel their two-decade-old automaking alliance.
Speaking at Nissan's annual general meeting in Yokohama, its first since the dramatic ouster of former chairman Carlos Ghosn last year, chief executive Hiroto Saikawa said he wanted to preserve the spirit of equality in the alliance - despite a shareholding structure that Nissan has long seen as lopsided.
Yesterday's meeting came days after the two resolved a highly publicised disagreement between Mr Saikawa and Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard over appointments to Nissan's newly created governance committees.
"We want a win-win relationship with Renault. The alliance has been successful until now because we have respected each others' independence," Mr Saikawa said.
"If necessary, we will put our capital structure on the table. If the relationship becomes a win-lose one, the relationship will break up very quickly."
His comments are some of the starkest in recent memory about the alliance and signal Nissan's deepening concern over the relationship.
"Our priority is to recover our performance, which means postponing discussions on the future of the alliance," Mr Saikawa told shareholders. - REUTERS
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