Nissan/Renault knows what it wants from GM
According to the Japanese business daily Nhon Keizai, Nissan and Renault have already decided what areas of cooperation they would seek from General Motors if a proposed alliance between the three companies became a reality. Those three areas are parts procurement, environmental and safety technology. Speculation abounds as to what shape such an alliance might take if it were to happen. Would we see Nissan-badged Chevrolets? Or perhaps Saturn-badged Renaults? Rather, it seems such an alliance would mostly involve technology sharing and greater economies of scale for all three companies. Nissan could certainly benefit from GM's upcoming hybrid drivetrains that will be sold in the Saturn VUE Green Line and Chevy Tahoe Hybrid. Meanwhile, we'd love to see a GM midsize sedan driven by Nissan's VQ V6.
While the potential results of such cooperation are fun to ponder, GM's board first has to approve exploring the idea of such a relationship with Nissan/Renault. Apparently the issue is going to be on the table tomorrow in a meeting of GM's board. We'll be eager to see what decision gets handed down.
[Source: Reuters]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bert 9:56AM (7/05/2006)
Can someone say "LS2 powered Mégane"?
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DarkKnight67 10:05AM (7/05/2006)
No matter how you slice it, a crappy deal is still a crappy deal. Did anyone notice the decline in Nissan's sales last month? GM may have had a drop, but they also had a better showing than June 2004 (according to Autoblog's own posting, for those doubters who always arise).
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dakota 10:11AM (7/05/2006)
So the whole "GM-BMW-DaimlerChrysler partnership" on the hybird Tahoe (and Durango) will then be shared with Nissan? Nice way to not do any work.
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Corey W. 10:26AM (7/05/2006)
Does anybody else see the automotive industry going the way of the oil companies. Eveybody merging to the point where there is 5-6 core companies. Just a thought...
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Loa 10:31AM (7/05/2006)
GM's highest profile shareholder, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, has proposed that GM management immediately begin exploring a potential alliance.
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RB 10:34AM (7/05/2006)
--Did anyone notice the decline in Nissan's sales last month?
Yeah, like companies base their long-term strategy on a one-month sales period.
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Bill 10:36AM (7/05/2006)
Maybe they'll finally get rid of Pontiac and GMC.
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Max 10:43AM (7/05/2006)
#2: Nissan is in a lull right now because the redesigned Sentra, Maxima and Altima have yet to be released. I think the downturn on sales is only temporary...and will rebound once those new models are available.
Plus, you have to remember that Nissan is making money on every car they sell (unlike GM.) So, even though sales numbers are down, the financial outlook for Nissan isn't so bad.
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laserwizard 10:57AM (7/05/2006)
Top Ten Benefits of GM-Nissan-Renault Alliance
10. A permanent vacation for Robert Wagoner.
9. More ugly designs to add to its current collection.
8. Robert Lutz imagining a whale mouth version of Murano and Quest for Buick.
7. A Renault version of the Corvette that gives up in a race.
6. New small Chevrolet named Le Cup Cake
5. Rebadged version of newest Nissan small car to be named Pontiac G2.5
4. Renault wants a Hummer, even if it is a bad one.
3. New Nissan lightweight pickup based off Chevrolet HD
2. New hybrid powered Dauphine with wine glass holder like VW Bug vase holder.
1. Cadillacs will wear authentic, imported french fabric fender skirts.
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AlexKeyes 11:06AM (7/05/2006)
Kirk is right after all in going after Wagoner. Kirk (via York) has long been pushing for GM restructuring. He'd suggested dumping Saab and Buick, GMC and Hummer.
Would of been a good move. GM should comprise Saturn, Chevy, Cadillac.
Wag didn't listen. He totally brought this Renault/Nissan situation upon himself.
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AlexKeyes 11:13AM (7/05/2006)
#7, regarding your item 7, you don't know what you're talking about. Renault kills everyone in Formula 1 racing (this is a racing series popular everywhere except North America).
Renault won '05 championship, and is leading in '06. They make both the car and the engine.
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AlexKeyes 11:15AM (7/05/2006)
sorry, #7, I was addressing #8 in my last post.. Yes, #8, it is YOU who is clueless about Renault racing achievements.
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jamie 11:17AM (7/05/2006)
At first glance the idea does have merit, but just what does GM get out of the deal? Nothing.
Renault/Nissan tends to be the major recipient of any accrued benefits. Not to mention, Cap'n Kirk who will walk away with millions more in his pocket. Yeah, the shareholders will be happy, but GM gets zip. Okay Ghosn has proposed a 20% booty to tie the knot. But does GM really need it? I don't think so. Ghosn is banking on capturing all of GM's hard earned technology advances in the past year or two. I say, "No way Jose!"
I am sure that Rick will nix the deal. He is doing an admirable job of turning around the General. The board will undoubtedly back him up again. Jerry York and Co. will come away from the meeting with their collective tails wrapped around their butts.
Why risk sinking the ship when everything is finally coming together? The stock is up 40% to just about where it should be, and it is poised to climb higher by the end of the year (without letting out too many more details). The Delphi-UAW fiasco is a fete-complet. Everybody is happy on the blue collar line. Restructuring is now two years ahead of schedule as a result. So what has quirky Kirk got to complain about anyway? The deal makes no sense.
If the board should accept the deal, they should require that GM remain GM and not a part of Renault or Nissan. The alliance is set up so that each manufacturer would remain separate and distinct. I would sincerely hope that Ghosn would be prevented in some way of taking any power away from Rick while he remains in charge of GM. And vice-versa.
No. GM's best course is to go it alone. Damn the torpedos, just run the guantlet at full speed ahead!
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gbh 11:22AM (7/05/2006)
Nice job lazerwizard.
Reality remains. This is just serving as a distraction from what is really happening behind the curtain.
Kerkorian is gonna get his, one way or another. Renault pissing away a coupla bil might slow GM's demise by a month or two, so why whould they go through with it? Unless there was something there post-bankruptcy that might be attractive, it would make no sense. There's no 'synergies' and GM may hold a fair number of patents, but it does little R&D with most of it.
What I really fail to comprehend is that other than Farago's site (and a coupla others) most folks are falling for this smokescreen hook, line, and sinker.
Just ignore the fact that it is GM. This is a story exactly like DOZENS of recent corporate boondoggles. Why must so many still pretend that the emperor is wearing new clothes?
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Sugar's dad 11:28AM (7/05/2006)
Kerkorian should take his wants, needs, desires and most of all his unwanted opinions and shove them up his old wrinkled butt. He's a game player, he see's the chance to make billions, and doesn't care at whose expense. I hope Wagoner slaps him around like a pet monkey.
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Fabulo 11:57AM (7/05/2006)
Step 1: Renault/Nissan buys $4 billion worth of GM stock, cash.
Step 2: GM burns the cash faster than a meth addict, from union workers buy-outs to Delphy hush money with also super fire summer sales.
Step 3: GM files for chap 11 (if they are lucky) chap 7 if the judge has any clue.
Step 4: Renault/Nissan asks: What about my money?
Step 5: GM replies: Up yours!
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S1500 12:05PM (7/05/2006)
Anything that could bring the Renault Clio V6 stateside. I wouldn't mind owning one(even though they wiped out quite a bit in Top Gear's tests).
Nissan and probably Renault could bring over some subcompacts that GM desperately needs. If the merger did happen, I hope they are wise enough to dump some un-needed GM brands. But A Cadillac being a rebadged Saab? Who's idea was that?
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Owen 12:18PM (7/05/2006)
Honestly, I would rather not see a VQ powered mid-size, I happen to think that the torque heavy pushrods provide a distinctly enjoyable experience. The VQ series is a great engine, but had proven unreliable at the limits of it's power envelope. Where GM needs help is in making the designs for the rest of it's lineup as appealing as the corvette, solstice, sky etc... They're on their way, first with the G6 and soon the Aura, but they need to work faster and put forth even better efforts. I'm honestly not impressed with any of the new Nissan designs, nor the Renaults for that matter. So I say GM keep your identity and keep heading the course, turnaround will come with better products which you are proving yourself capable of producing, even if it is by means of re-badging an opel astra.
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Steve B. 12:34PM (7/05/2006)
GM will finally be able to put DOHC engines anf 5 speed automatics in their mainstream cars and (!) compete? Wow! With a new drivetrain and some of Renault's snazzy styling, the Epsilon-based Malibu could be a pretty kickin' midsizer.
Oh sure, some peole will want to cling to their jurassic pushrods anf 4-sppeds. Some cling to analogue cell phones, vinyl records, and typewriters for their counter-modernistic kicks. It's simply the nature of the beast.
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Will Wheeler 12:47PM (7/05/2006)
This is all a distraction. GM is letting itself fall to peices. I have no doubt that GM will use this as an excuse to build it's cars in China. "We can no longer compete on the global making cars in the US. So we have entered into a partnership with (Insert Chi-Com car company here) in order to deliver the quality and price you expect from Chevy."
If GM has any plans of remaining a manufacturer, then it should not build any cars for a year, fire all of the Union thugs, and take a tour of any Japanese plant in the US in order to see how efficently a car can be built, and designed.
I am positive that GM is too large to compete with other companies. Why is it that the new Tahoe, still has a 4 speed auto? They are the classic goliath, and can not react to trends fast enough to capitalize on them.
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