Nissan Motor Company Ltd. urging its partner Renault SA (OTC: RNLSY) to reduce it’s stake of the Japanese automaker, and to restructure the alliance, which has been in place for more than 20 years according to the Wall Street Journal said on Friday, citing sources who are aware of the talks.
French automobile manufacturer Renault (EPA: RENA) has a stake of 43 percent of Nissan (OTC: NSANY) and the Japanese firm holds fifteen percent of their biggest shareholder, with no voting rights.
The month of June saw Nissan announced for the very first time the details of the alliance agreement with the largest shareholder Renault which will prevent Renault from expanding its stake in a unilateral manner beyond 44.4 percent.
The talks will address the issue about whether Nissan will be a part of Renault’s new unit which is being created in order to store its electric-powered vehicle (EV) properties in return for the French allies winding down the Nissan stake in the company, according to report reported.
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The Chief Operating Officer of Nissan Ashwani Gupta was among the company’s top executives who traveled to France in the last month to discuss whether the Japanese automaker would make a bet in the new electric vehicle business of Renault The paper also said that.
Renault is moving ahead with plans to separate its combustion engine and electric vehicle business in an effort to compete with its rivals like Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) and Volkswagen (ETR: VOWG_p) in the race to clean driving.
The company is expected to release an outline of the forthcoming EV entity by the end of this year.
Renault did not respond to the report. Nissan did not respond immediately to Reuters the reporter’s request for comments during normal working hours.