TOKYO — Nissan and Renault, the quarrelsome main partners in the world’s largest automaking alliance, announced a plan on Wednesday to try to reset their troubled relationship as they seek to survive the coronavirus’s devastating impact on the car industry.
The plan seeks to more clearly delineate each company’s turf so they can better absorb catastrophic declines in sales while developing new technologies they need to remain competitive.
For example, Nissan will take the lead on development of autonomous driving technology and Renault will be in charge of developing electric vehicles.
Nissan will be the dominant partner in Japan, China and the United States, while Renault will take the lead in Europe, Russia, Africa and Latin America. Mitsubishi, which is also a member of the alliance, will be in charge of the rest of Asia.
However, there are no plans to merge the companies, said Jean-Dominique Senard, the chairman of the alliance. “We don’t need a merger to be efficient,” he said during an online news conference Wednesday.
The alliance has been in crisis since the arrest of its former chairman, Carlos Ghosn, in 2018 on accusations of financial wrongdoing, which he has denied. Without Mr. Ghosn’s dominant presence at the top, simmering tensions and jealousies burst into the open.
But breaking up was not an option. On the contrary, the pandemic has made it even more essential for the companies to cooperate and share the enormous cost of developing new models and technology. Global demand for automobiles has gone into free fall during the lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus, battering both companies when they were already in a weakened state.
Renault sales in the European Union, its most important market, fell almost 80 percent in April when dealerships were closed and most buyers were not leaving their homes. The French government, fearful that Renault will be forced to close factories, on Tuesday pledged 8 billion euros, or $8.8 billion, to encourage sales of electric cars and help companies develop new digital technologies. The French government is a significant shareholder in Renault.
Nissan, which reports its annual financial results Thursday, has seen a steady drop in sales and profit in the last year that accelerated in recent months. Shares of both companies have plunged by more than half in the last year.
Mr. Senard, who is also chairman of Renault, insisted Wednesday that the companies had buried old grievances, identified common strengths and planned to work together in harmony.
“There is absolutely no doubt about how it will work in the future,” Mr. Senard said during an online news conference. “If there had been some few doubts in the markets these days, well, this is over today.”
The companies, Mr. Senard said, would seek to cut costs by reducing competition between them in product development and global markets. They will combine back office operations and some other functions while looking for other ways to cooperate in coming years.
“We looked back on the alliance activity, what is good activity where we can further continue to enhance, where are the areas that we are going to look to really reinforce,” said Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s chief executive.
But for years, the alliance has been promising benefits it failed to deliver, said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, director of the Center Automotive Research in Duisburg, Germany.
“The main problem, which could be seen after the divisions of recent years, is unresolved in our view,” Mr. Dudenhöffer said in an email.
By improving the division of labor, the companies will aim to cut the costs of developing new models by up to 40 percent by 2025, they said in a joint statement. For example, Nissan will be in charge of developing larger SUVs while Renault will focus on compact SUVs.
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Updated June 30, 2020
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What are the symptoms of coronavirus?
Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.
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Is it harder to exercise while wearing a mask?
A commentary published this month on the website of the British Journal of Sports Medicine points out that covering your face during exercise “comes with issues of potential breathing restriction and discomfort” and requires “balancing benefits versus possible adverse events.” Masks do alter exercise, says Cedric X. Bryant, the president and chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, a nonprofit organization that funds exercise research and certifies fitness professionals. “In my personal experience,” he says, “heart rates are higher at the same relative intensity when you wear a mask.” Some people also could experience lightheadedness during familiar workouts while masked, says Len Kravitz, a professor of exercise science at the University of New Mexico.
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I’ve heard about a treatment called dexamethasone. Does it work?
The steroid, dexamethasone, is the first treatment shown to reduce mortality in severely ill patients, according to scientists in Britain. The drug appears to reduce inflammation caused by the immune system, protecting the tissues. In the study, dexamethasone reduced deaths of patients on ventilators by one-third, and deaths of patients on oxygen by one-fifth.
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What is pandemic paid leave?
The coronavirus emergency relief package gives many American workers paid leave if they need to take time off because of the virus. It gives qualified workers two weeks of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus, or if they are caring for sick family members. It gives 12 weeks of paid leave to people caring for children whose schools are closed or whose child care provider is unavailable because of the coronavirus. It is the first time the United States has had widespread federally mandated paid leave, and includes people who don’t typically get such benefits, like part-time and gig economy workers. But the measure excludes at least half of private-sector workers, including those at the country’s largest employers, and gives small employers significant leeway to deny leave.
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Does asymptomatic transmission of Covid-19 happen?
So far, the evidence seems to show it does. A widely cited paper published in April suggests that people are most infectious about two days before the onset of coronavirus symptoms and estimated that 44 percent of new infections were a result of transmission from people who were not yet showing symptoms. Recently, a top expert at the World Health Organization stated that transmission of the coronavirus by people who did not have symptoms was “very rare,” but she later walked back that statement.
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What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?
Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.
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How does blood type influence coronavirus?
A study by European scientists is the first to document a strong statistical link between genetic variations and Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.
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How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?
The unemployment rate fell to 13.3 percent in May, the Labor Department said on June 5, an unexpected improvement in the nation’s job market as hiring rebounded faster than economists expected. Economists had forecast the unemployment rate to increase to as much as 20 percent, after it hit 14.7 percent in April, which was the highest since the government began keeping official statistics after World War II. But the unemployment rate dipped instead, with employers adding 2.5 million jobs, after more than 20 million jobs were lost in April.
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How can I protect myself while flying?
If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)
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What should I do if I feel sick?
If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.
The companies combined forces in 1999, when Nissan was on the brink of bankruptcy. Mitsubishi joined in 2016.
Nissan, which produces far more cars than Renault, has long bristled at French domination of the alliance. Renault holds a 43 percent stake in Nissan, while Nissan holds only a 15 percent share in Renault and has no voting rights.
The stresses blew wide open after the arrest in Japan of Mr. Ghosn, the architect and leader of the arrangement. Mr. Ghosn has described his arrest as a coup engineered by Nissan insiders who were afraid that he was planning to merge the company with Renault. In December, Mr. Ghosn fled Japan for Lebanon, where he has waged a media campaign to clear his name.
Mr. Senard sought Wednesday to put aside speculation he would push to combine the carmakers. “There is no plan for the merger of our companies,” he said.
Nissan has blamed its recent poor sales on decisions made under Mr. Ghosn’s leadership, including a drive to substantially expand the alliance’s market share at the expense of profits. Executives at the company have said that the push left them overstretched and diverted funds from the development of new cars.
“In the past few years, we focused too much on an expansion strategy,” Osamu Masuko, the chairman of Mitsubishi said, adding that the strategy introduced by Mr. Ghosn had pushed the alliance’s costs to an unsustainable level.
Renault will not be searching for new partners, Mr. Senard said. Last year, Renault aggravated tensions in the alliance by pursuing a merger with Fiat Chrysler without Nissan’s knowledge. The deal eventually fell through, and Fiat later agreed to merge with PSA, Renault’s French rival, which makes Peugeot, Citroën and Opel brand cars.
“The priority is to strengthen the alliance,” Mr. Senard said. “That’s the top priority.”
Ben Dooley reported from Japan, and Jack Ewing from Frankfurt.
