Renault’s plan to carve out separate electric vehicle and combustion engine businesses isn’t aimed at disrupting its global alliance with Nissan Motor and Mitsubishi Motors, the French carmaker’s chief executive said.
“The best thing I can do is actually propose ideas in a way that shows I’m not here to screw Nissan or the alliance,” Luca de Meo said in an interview as he wrapped up a week-long visit to Japan, the first since he became chief executive in 2020.
“I don’t want to impose any strategic choice on Nissan or Mitsubishi.”
Even so, Mr De Meo’s idea of creating an entity dedicated to EVs based in France — part of a push to make the Renault brand 100 per cent electric by 2030 — is adding pressure on his Japanese partners to choose whether to bet on Renault’s future as an EV maker or its legacy business. Such a transformational overhaul may even involve a reshaping of capital ties, including the possible sale of part of Renault’s 43 per cent stake in Nissan.
But Mr De Meo, like Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard, was quick to stress that the historically low share prices mean it isn’t the right time for any sales. The stock of Renault or Nissan needs to be “at a higher level than today” for anything like that to happen, the chief executive said.
Nissan owns just 15 per cent of Renault and lacks voting rights. The unequal relationship is a sore point going back years, and it came into relief in 2018 when the arrest in Japan of former chairman Carlos Ghosn strained the alliance and threatened its future.
Part of the impetus behind Mr Ghosn’s ouster was fear within Nissan that he, as chairman of both companies, would push for closer integration between Renault and Nissan. Mr De Meo said the issue was not on the table.
“The whole discussion about merging is completely out of scope,” Mr De Meo said. “It’s not in the Zeitgeist anymore.”
Renault detailed last week plans to carve out an EV business, and establish a second entity focused on internal combustion and hybrid powertrains that will be based outside France. Nissan has said it’s studying the plan and wanted to learn more about it during Mr De Meo and Mr Senard’s trip to Japan.
New Spirit
Mr De Meo said his visits to Nissan’s factories, discussions with engineers on future products and the Japanese carmaker’s work on solid-state batteries was encouraging. Renault’s chief executive said he’s also interested in having more transfer of talent between Nissan and Renault “in a new spirit,” and with more direct contact than under Mr Ghosn’s leadership.
“From the product point of view, they will be very strong,” Mr De Meo said of Nissan’s plans to speed up the roll-out of new models, a key part of the company’s turnaround strategy. “When it comes to EVs, Nissan knows what they’re talking about.”
Nissan recently returned to profit for the first time in three years and resumed paying dividends, a token of goodwill towards its largest shareholder. Despite Renault’s continuing challenges, including a costly withdrawal from Russia, Mr De Meo said Renault would have enough cash to run the business but would need additional funds for longer-term EV development, possibly by selling shares in the new entity to the public.
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
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WORLD CUP FINAL
England v South Africa
Yokohama International Stadium, Tokyo
Saturday, kick-off 1pm (UAE)
Company%C2%A0profile
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
- Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000
- Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000
- Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000
- Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000
- HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000
- Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000
- Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000
- Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000
- Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000
- Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000
- Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000
- Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
- Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
- Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
WIDE%20VIEW
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As it stands in Pool A
1. Japan - Played 3, Won 3, Points 14
2. Ireland - Played 3, Won 2, Lost 1, Points 11
3. Scotland - Played 2, Won 1, Lost 1, Points 5
Remaining fixtures
Scotland v Russia – Wednesday, 11.15am
Ireland v Samoa – Saturday, 2.45pm
Japan v Scotland – Sunday, 2.45pm
UAE's role in anti-extremism recognised
General John Allen, President of the Brookings Institution research group, commended the role the UAE has played in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.
He told a Globsec debate of the UAE’s "hugely outsized" role in the fight against Isis.
"It’s trite these days to say that any country punches above its weight, but in every possible way the Emirates did, both militarily, and very importantly, the UAE was extraordinarily helpful on getting to the issue of violent extremism," he said.
He also noted the impact that Hedayah, among others in the UAE, has played in addressing violent extremism.
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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1.
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United States
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2.
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China
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3.
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UAE
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4.
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Japan
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5
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Norway
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6.
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Canada
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7.
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Singapore
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8.
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Australia
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9.
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Saudi Arabia
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10.
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South Korea
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
The alternatives
• Founded in 2014, Telr is a payment aggregator and gateway with an office in Silicon Oasis. It’s e-commerce entry plan costs Dh349 monthly (plus VAT). QR codes direct customers to an online payment page and merchants can generate payments through messaging apps.
• Business Bay’s Pallapay claims 40,000-plus active merchants who can invoice customers and receive payment by card. Fees range from 1.99 per cent plus Dh1 per transaction depending on payment method and location, such as online or via UAE mobile.
• Tap started in May 2013 in Kuwait, allowing Middle East businesses to bill, accept, receive and make payments online “easier, faster and smoother” via goSell and goCollect. It supports more than 10,000 merchants. Monthly fees range from US$65-100, plus card charges of 2.75-3.75 per cent and Dh1.2 per sale.
• 2checkout’s “all-in-one payment gateway and merchant account” accepts payments in 200-plus markets for 2.4-3.9 per cent, plus a Dh1.2-Dh1.8 currency conversion charge. The US provider processes online shop and mobile transactions and has 17,000-plus active digital commerce users.
• PayPal is probably the best-known online goods payment method - usually used for eBay purchases - but can be used to receive funds, providing everyone’s signed up. Costs from 2.9 per cent plus Dh1.2 per transaction.
