The executive president of Nissan engineIvan Espinosa, said the automaker plans to reduce her participation in the French partner Renault, reported the Nikkei Business Journal this Monday (16).
In March, Nissan and Renault said they had agreed to reduce the minimum stake required by each other from 15% to 10%. According to the agreement, any stock sales should be coordinated with the other party and includes a right of preference.
The sale of a 5% stake in Renault would raise about 100 billion yen (US $ 640 million) to current stock prices, funds that Nissan plans to use for the development of new vehicles amid challenging business conditions, Nikkei said.
Currently, Nissan has 15% of the French company, according to LSEG data.
The news comes the moment Renault said on Sunday that chief Luca de Meo is leaving the automaker to seek role outside the auto industry.
“We are reducing our crosses to invest in vehicles,” Espinosa told the newspaper in an interview.
Nissan said there was no change in its cooperation agreement with Renault.
“If a sale of shares will be executed in the future, it is expected that the funds will be allocated mainly for investments in product development. However, no definitive decision has been made so far,” the company said in a statement.
A sale would mark the latest example of distancing between companies.
Renault holds a participation in Nissan separately on a French fund, which has been gradually sold since 2023, when the two companies reformulated their alliance to put Nissan in a more egalitarian position.
