Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn on Wednesday said the group is not taking any initiative for alliance negotiations with US automakers.
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”I want to make it very clear that we are not taking any initiative. We are not. We didn’t take any initiative in the past and we will not take any initiative in the future, even though we are very open,” Ghosn told Kyodo News during a visit to Indonesia to introduce a new Nissan model.
He made the statement in response to a question on a possible alliance with other US automakers, following the termination of alliance talks by the management of General Motors with the group early this month.
Kyodo News said the Nissan/Renault partnership is eager to find a North American partner to boost global sales of their vehicles and noted there has been speculation that Ford may begin negotiating with them.
However, Ghosn denied that Ford has approached or built contacts with him.
Ghosn was launching the Livina, a compact seven-seat family car to be introduced in the country in the first half of 2007.
Indonesia will be the second market after China to launch the new Nissan model, part of a larger family of new global models, he said.
”Since my last visit to Indonesia in 2001, it is clear that the potential of this market for Nissan has become more significant. We are very confident that Indonesia is a very solid and competitive place,” he told Kyodo News.
The improving political condition in the country, he said, has convinced him that Indonesia has potential.
”Companies like stability and it is true that usually when we don’t have a good democratic regime, it is not stable, it’s not profitable,” he said.
”That’s why everything stabilising the market, everything stabilising the economy, everything making the economy more transparent and more profitable is welcome,” he added.
PT Nissan Motor Indonesia and its local partner Indomobil Group have jointly invested $US60m in a local manufacturing facility as well as into expanding and upgrading the Nissan retail network infrastructure.
It is focused on the expansion of its retail network nationwide. Currently, there are 42 dealerships compared with 11 in 2001 on the islands of Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Bali. It also plans to grow the network to 48 dealerships by 2008, Kyodo News added.
