Nissan and Renault planning to announce restructured alliance very soon

Nissan and Renault will announce their restructured alliance in the coming days, sources have said, capping 10 months of sometimes tense negotiations.

The car makers announced a framework agreement in February and had aimed to finalise negotiations as early as March.

Under the framework, the Japanese car maker will take as much as 15 per cent of Renault's new electric vehicle unit, Ampere, while Renault will reduce its 43 per cent stake in Nissan.

That timeline was extended when senior Nissan executives and some directors challenged detailed provisions of deal, citing the need to better protect Nissan's intellectual property, Reuters has reported.

The delay complicated Nissan's drive to put its decades-long relationship with Renault on to a more equal footing.

Nissan executives sought to rebalance the alliance built by former chairman Carlos Ghosn after his removal sent the car maker into turmoil.

The Japanese car maker has been working to establish a lower threshold for its pledged strategic investment in the Renault unit that would be below the 15 per cent maximum it announced in February, two of the sources said.

While the size of the investment ultimately hinges on the value of Ampere, Nissan is likely to take less than 10 per cent, one of them said.

“Nissan and Renault are engaged in constructive and ongoing negotiations. We will make a statement in due course when the agreements are concluded,” the Japanese company said.

Renault declined to comment.

The French car maker has said it expects to list Ampere in an initial public offering in the first half of 2024.

Sources have said the unit could be valued at up to €10 billion ($11.2 billion).

Renault wants to attract more investors to Ampere, given the massive investment required for connected cars.

Nissan and Renault's junior partner, Mitsubishi Motors, has also indicated it may invest in the company. US chip business Qualcomm has already said it will invest.

Discussions have focused on how to deal with future IP – including technology that may not yet exist, one of the sources said.

A Mitsubishi representative said it was still considering whether to invest in Ampere but that nothing had been decided.

Talks have also been delayed as Nissan's board has been forced to deal with a claim that chief executive Makoto Uchida carried out surveillance of Ashwani Gupta, his deputy at the time, after Mr Gupta voiced opposition to some terms of the new partnership with Renault, Reuters has reported.

Mr Gupta, who had been chief operating officer and was widely seen as a candidate to become Nissan's chief executive, left the car maker in June.

The board has not heard the final report on the surveillance claim, according to the sources.

By closing out the restructured Renault deal, Nissan executives have the opportunity to pivot to other challenges, including a medium-term strategy update and a change in approach to China, where Nissan's sales, and those of other global car makers, are in decline.