Renault and Nissan reportedly will look for a more stable structure for their alliance and will share increased number of operations.
The two automakers have taken the step to compete with Volkswagen by taking advantage of economies of scale and gradually prepare for CEO Carlos Ghosn’s eventual succession.
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Company sources told Reuters the two automakers have doubled their joint savings goal for 2016 to EUR4bn (US$5.2bn). They also intend to reassess the cross shareholdings underpinning their 13-year-old alliance.
An executive who participated in recent internal presentations to alliance managers said: “Ghosn said we need to seek further synergies to get to double where we are today.”
Ghosn has raised pressure for closer Renault-Nissan integration by naming executives to oversee joint vehicle programmes and production.
According to PwC data, Volkswagen built 3.8m cars of 27 different models in 2011 from a single underlying vehicle architecture, or platform. Meanwhile, the Renault -Nissan alliance produced only 2.6m vehicles on its biggest-selling B-platform last year.
A Renault-Nissan spokeswoman did not comment on the alliance’s corporate structure, but said: “We seek more and more synergies every year.”
Executives at both carmakers agreed privately that revamping the alliance is becoming more urgent as Ghosn’s retirement gets closer.
A European fund manager said: “Renault knows that if they want the alliance to stay stuck together post-Ghosn, they need to do more than hire a new CEO.”
