PARIS, May 20 (Reuters) – Renault’s chief executive could return to Japan in June for the second month in a row, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a sign of intensifying talks with Nissan over the planned electrical unit of the French car manufacturer.
Luca de Meo, who has already spent several days with his Japanese partners, could go to the archipelago again for the next AOB (Alliance Operating Board) of the alliance between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, added the source.
The alliance’s operational committee meets alternately between France and Japan, but this time will exceptionally be held twice in a row on Japanese soil to coincide with Nissan’s general assembly and thus optimize travel, said this meeting. source.
Renault is counting on the creation within it of two autonomous entities, one dedicated to electric vehicles and software, and another devoted to thermal engines, to gain visibility with investors and recover from a stock market price at half mast.
He left the door open for Nissan to join this project, which also raises questions about the shareholder structure of the alliance, and discussions will continue until Renault’s “capital market day” scheduled for the fall.
Pioneer of electricity with its Japanese partners at the beginning of the previous decade, the diamond group is clipped today by “pure players” like Tesla or by the ambitions of gloves like Volkswagen. (Gilles Guillaume report, told by Jean-Michel Blot and Sophie Louet)