Nissan to mull Renault proposal on IP safeguards: sources

A COMMITTEE of Nissan’s board is set to meet next week to consider proposals from Renault to address a sticking point in talks to restructure the alliance between the two carmakers, two sources said.

Specifically, Nissan directors will consider proposals from Renault on how the Japanese carmaker’s technology and intellectual property would be protected as Renault restructures. This issue has been a concern for the Japanese company, said the sources, who asked not to be named.

Renault and Nissan declined to comment.

The two carmakers had readied plans to announce a potential deal on a restructured tie-up last month, but failed to reach terms. The two sides have been in intensive negotiations since October, when Renault chief executive officer Luca De Meo went to Japan to meet his Nissan counterpart Makoto Uchida.

Renault is looking for Nissan to invest in an electric-vehicle (EV) business that it will carve out of its operations. Nissan wants Renault to sell most of its roughly 43 per cent stake in Nissan to put the 23-year alliance on a more equal footing, Reuters previously reported.

If Renault’s proposals address Nissan’s concerns about its technology, the two sides would be closer to an agreement on the framework for a restructured partnership, the sources said. Still, key issues remain, including Nissan’s potential investment in Renault’s new EV business, code-named Ampere, they added.

The involvement of Nissan’s board members in reviewing specific proposals from its French partner also represents progress, and suggests that working-level negotiations are shifting towards higher-level approval, one of the sources said.

The details of Renault’s proposed protections for Nissan technology were not immediately known. It was also not immediately clear how many directors on Nissan’s 12-member board, which includes Uchida, would be involved in the meeting set for next week.

Renault has separately negotiated a non-binding agreement with Chinese carmaker Geely to launch a new joint venture that would supply combustion engines and hybrid technologies to both brands, and potentially other carmakers.

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Renault’s restructuring is intended to secure investment for its EV business at a time when its larger rivals are stepping up commitments in battery-powered cars and in technology that is expected to dominate global sales in the next decade.

Renault, which will announce its annual results on Feb 16, has secured the support of its main shareholder, the French government, for its restructuring, a third source with knowledge of that development said.

Nissan holds 15 per cent of Renault and does not hold voting rights. Renault’s dominance in the alliance has been a source of contention for many Nissan executives, who have complained that the relationship was unbalanced.

France’s government also holds a 15 per cent stake in Renault.

Issues that have been addressed in the negotiations include how Renault could transfer shares in Nissan to a trust as part of a restructured partnership that would leave it with a 15 per cent stake in Nissan, sources said.

Mitsubishi Motors, the junior partner in the alliance, has been waiting for the talks between Nissan and Renault to conclude before making its own decision on investing in the French carmaker’s EV unit, Reuters has reported.

The Renault-Nissan alliance started in 1999, when the French carmaker came to the rescue of Nissan and steered it through a turnaround under Carlos Ghosn, who became Nissan chief executive officer in 2000.

The changes to their partnership that both sides are negotiating would represent the biggest changes since Ghosn was arrested and ousted in 2018. REUTERS