Posted on Oct 7, 2019 at 6:30 am
Pile or face? Which side will the room fall on? At Renault, many hold their breath, as the fate of the Franco-Japanese alliance will depend on the profile of Nissan’s new boss . “It’s a heavy choice, which will give a clear signal for the future,” insists a close Losange. Renault’s president, Jean-Dominique Senard, did not hide the fact that the commitment of the future boss to the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi partnership was in his eyes a fundamental criterion of choice.
Different currents still clash in Japan against the French manufacturer. Some are annoyed (not to say that they are exasperated) to see that Renault, itself 15% owned by the French state, still has 43.4% of Nissan’s capital twenty years after the rescue that caused this situation. And even if the powers of the diamond at his partner have been largely planed since 2015. Others, without being “against” Renault, believe that the top priority must be the recovery of Nissan, in serious financial difficulties . And that the Alliance takes second place.
The president of Renault considers of course essential to choose a manager able to put Nissan in the nails as soon as possible. But in his eyes the ideal is that the lucky one belongs to the third category, that of the leaders convinced that the Alliance will help Nissan to accelerate its recovery, and that we must go further in the synergies.
Explosion in flight
At a time when the automobile industry is facing headwinds, Renault needs this original partnership more than ever. The boss of the State Participation Agency, Martin Vial, recalled Friday morning. “We are not getting involved in the appointment process of the future Nissan executive. But what is important to us is that it is good pro Alliance.
Many analysts said last fall that divorce would be almost suicidal for Renault as for Nissan, given the current nesting of operations. Without even mentioning the idea of ever closer contact with Fiat Chrysler, that does not make sense without Nissan .
Since the spectacular arrest of Carlos Ghosn in November 2018, the Alliance has stalled, or nearly so. “On the operational side, things are not moving forward, decisions are not made,” says a Renault executive. Some engineers are now starting to work on breaking scenarios! “
Frozen discussions
To rebuild the partnership, the leaders of Renault and Nissan had engaged in discussions during the summer , aiming in particular to reduce the participation of Losange in his partner and to put flat the Rama, the famous secret agreement which governs their relations. The departure of Hiroto Saikawa mid-September interrupted them. “Everything is frozen, waiting for the new governance to be installed,” says a good connoisseur of the file. The positions were still quite distant, Renault is not ready to let go of the blocking minority.
The presence of Jean-Dominique Senard at Nissan’s nominating committee, which must agree on a unanimous name, should help avoid a catastrophe scenario for Renault. “But anything can happen,” says a good connoisseur of the file.