Renault, Nissan and Daimler to swap shares, launch cars

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SME Times News Bureau | 07 Apr, 2010
Renault-Nissan and Daimler Wednesday announced equity swap and a programme to jointly launch cars and light commercial vehicles.

The idea behind the three-way alliance of French Renault, Japanese Nissan and German Daimler is to increase volumes for all the players and thereby achieve economies of scale and lowering of costs.

"Our skills complement each other very well. Right away, we are strengthening our competitiveness in the small and compact car segment and are reducing our CO2 footprint - both on a long-term basis. We know that we can make brand-typical products based on shared architectures. The individual brand identities will remain unaffected," said Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG.

According to the announcement, there will be a one-time cross holding of shares by the three companies.

Daimler will hold 3.1 percent stake in equity of Renault and Nissan Motor Company. Daimler will get Nissan's shares from Renault's existing holdings.

In return, Renault will get 3.1 percent of Daimler shares. Reault has independently agreed to exchange 1.55 percent of Daimler with Nissan for 2 percent of Nissan shares.

Also, Renault and Nissan will each hold 1.55 percent of Daimler's treasury shares.

The car makers have agreed to develop and jointly launch small cars - two and four seaters - from 2013.

They will also share fuel-efficient diesel and petrol engines.

As per the understanding, the Renault-Nissan Alliance will provide three and four cylinder petrol and diesel engines out of its portfolio to Daimler, which will then be adapted and modified to reflect Mercedes' characteristics.

The result is expected to be a win-win situation for both sides. Daimler will be able to utilise Renault-Nissan engines and capture additional sales potential for Mercedes-Benz' future lineup of premium compact cars, while Renault-Nissan will improve its capacity utilisation.

Similarly, Daimler will provide gasoline and diesel engines out of its current portfolio to Nissan's premium car Infiniti.

The three alliance partners will also cooperate on future petrol and diesel engines.

To cut costs, the three companies will first standardise their non-branded relevant components.

Daimler, Renault and Nissan will look at regional cooperation in the US, China and Japan.

The three companies will also avail opportunities to co-develop technologies for electric vehicles and batteries.