Shares in French car maker Renault have jumped 5.4% at the opening of trading after a report that it is in merger talks with Japanese car giant Nissan.
Bloomberg reported that the companies are discussing becoming one entity with a single stock.
The companies have been in a strategic alliance since 1999.
Asked about the report, a spokesman for Renault-Nissan said: “We do not comment on rumours and speculation.”
Earlier in March, Reuters reported that Renault and Nissan were discussing plans for the Japanese carmaker to buy most of the French state’s 15% Renault holding.
The alliance between the firms includes sharing engines and building smaller vehicles on a common architecture.
Japanese car firm Mitsubishi is also part of the alliance.
In 2016, Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi had combined sales of 9.96 million – which was one in nine of all vehicles sold worldwide.
The alliance had the fourth largest number of sales in 2016 behind Volkswagen Group, Toyota, and General Motors.