TOKYO, Oct 18 (Reuters) – The relationship between Japan’s Nissan Motor Co (7201.T) and top shareholder Renault SA should be “more equal”, the Nikkei newspaper quoted the French automaker’s chief executive as saying.
“This is not one side losing and the other side winning,” the newspaper quoted Luca de Meo as saying in an interview, which took place in France on Monday.
“Each company needs to do what is best,” he told the Nikkei, adding that that was the spirit of their alliance.
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Renault is Nissan’s largest shareholder with 43% while the Japanese automaker owns 15% in its partner.
The two companies said last week they were in talks about a new phase in their partnership that could include Nissan investing in a new electric vehicle venture Renault plans to carve out from its business.
Such a shift could mean the biggest reset in their relationship since the 2018 arrest of longtime executive Carlos Ghosn. Talks so far have included consideration of Renault selling some of its Nissan stake, Reuters has previously reported.
For Nissan, that could mean a chance to alter a structure that many executives at the Japanese company have seen as unbalanced.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday that there would be further talks with de Meo over the Renault-Nissan alliance and that he was keen for Renault to keep its industrial and technological advantages.
The two companies are in the final stages of concluding a deal this week, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday.
Nissan said the two companies were currently engaged in “trustful” discussions around several initiatives as part of continued efforts to reinforce the cooperation and the future of their alliance.
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Reporting by David Dolan and Maki Shiraki; Editing by Kirsten Donovan
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