Renault and alliance partner Nissan could achieve closer links but only if France sells it stake, chief executive Carlos Ghosn was quoted as saying on Friday.
According to Reuters, Ghosn, who heads both manufacturers, said a 2015 stand-off over French government voting rights had persuaded Nissan that no further consolidation was possible while France remains a shareholder.
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“The Japanese will never accept to be part of an entity where the French state will be a shareholder of Japanese assets,” Ghosn told analysts as he presented Renault’s full-year results. “The day the French state decides to get out, everything is open.”
France, with a 19.74% slice and a bigger share of voting rights, is the automaker’s biggest shareholder, Reuters noted.
Renault has a long history of full state ownership since the end of World War 2 and was only privatised in 1996. The alliance with Nissan dates back to 1999 after talks with several other automakers, including Mitsubishi, in which Nissan recently increased its stake and control.
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