Nissan says that it and Renault talked about how to compete better in the electric car market.

Nissan Motor Co.’s CEO told Reuters on Friday that their talks with Renault SA (OTC:RNLSY) are focused on making the most of their investments in electric vehicles and improving their competitiveness as equal partners.

People who know about the talks say that negotiations with Renault (EPA:RENA), which is also Nissan’s (OTC:NSANYlargest s shareholder, have less than two weeks left to meet a Nov. 15 deadline the automakers had set to reach a deal.

Makoto Uchida, the CEO of Nissan, wouldn’t say if he thought an agreement could be reached this month. But he said he talked to Luca de Meo, the CEO of Renault, every weekend and that they would keep talking “forever.”

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The automakers said last month that they were talking about the future of an alliance that started in 1999 when Renault bought a piece of Nissan and helped the Japanese company turn around under the leadership of Carlos Ghosn, who is now on the run.

The two companies said that Nissan is also thinking about putting money into Renault’s planned electric vehicle unit.

Uchida said on Friday that the goal of the talks is to make it easier for automakers to compete in a time of economic uncertainty and as the industry moves toward what he called the biggest change in a century—the switch to electric vehicles.

“What we’re talking about is how to make us even more competitive,” Uchida said. “That’s the best.”

People who know about the talks say that the two sides have also talked about lowering Renault’s 43% stake in Nissan, possibly to 15%, and how that could happen.

“We want it to be a fair partnership,” Uchida said. “A fair partnership would make sense, and that would speed up the collaboration even more.”

He didn’t say anything about the possible stakes.

Renault is separating its electric vehicle business, code-named “Ampere,” from its internal combustion engine business, code-named “Horse,” as it tries to catch up with U.S. rival Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Inc. in the shift to electric vehicles.

On a separate track from its talks with Nissan, Renault has also been talking to Geely Automobile Holdings (OTC:GELYF) about the Chinese automaker taking a stake in its internal combustion engine unit, according to people familiar with those talks.

There are Renault factories in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Romania, and Latin America that are all part of this unit.

Uchida said that Nissan knew that Renault was changing by separating its gas-powered car business, and that “fair treatment” for Nissan as part of a new partnership was something that was being talked about. He didn’t say Geely’s name at all.

“What does it mean if they have their new partner, A, B, or C?” “We talk about that openly,” he said.

Related: The COO says that Nissan’s long-term plans are not based on currency.

He also said, “Transparency is very important.”

Uchida said that Nissan was making plans for what would happen if there was a global recession. “For us to stay in business on the market, we need to be able to plan for many different situations,” he said.

He said that another worry for Nissan is that the value of the yen has dropped to its lowest level in decades.