Nissan and Renault plan to restructure their alliance to merge with Fiat

Nissan and Renault have plans to adapt their partnership to relaunch merger negotiations with Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler, according to US media.

According to the newspaper, the Wall Street Journal on Friday quoted emails and sources close to both companies. Nissan is now asking Renault to reduce its share of 43% of the shares of the Japanese company.
Nissan controls 15% and does not have the right to vote on Renault, part of which is owned by the French government.

According to the newspaper, a balanced relationship would ease some tensions between the two automakers and reduce Nissan's reluctance to support integration with Chrysler Fiat.
A draft agreement on restructuring the relationship could be reached in early September, according to the Wall Street Journal, citing an email in July.

Negotiations on the merger between Renault and Chrysler were broken in June and the president of Renault accused the French government of blocking the vote on an agreement that would have stimulated the automobile industry and the birth of the third manufacturer global automobile.
The French government denied these accusations, while Nissan had described its relations with Renault not to be equal and said the French automaker had not seen plans to merge with Fiat Chrysler.

The French state, which holds 15% of Renault's shares, must give the go-ahead to this transaction, and approval is not inevitable. The French president, Emmanuel Macaron, announced at the end of June that he would not ask for any modification of the structure of the two companies.

The same month, the shareholders agreed to a restructuring to strengthen the management of the company after the arrest of his former boss, Carlos Ghosn, accused of financial irregularities.

Nissan's net profit fell to its lowest level in almost a decade over the past year and warned of a "challenging trading environment" over the next 12 months.
The company is suffering from falling sales in the United States and Europe and the consequences of the arrest of his former boss, Carlos Ghosn, accused of financial irregularities.

During the 2018 fiscal year, Nissan International sales declined 4.4% to 5.52 million euros. And suffered a decline of 17.8% in sales in Europe and 9.3% in the United States.

(AFP, New Arab)