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GM and Renault/Nissan come back into the forefront, continuing talks
There's been a lot of buzz in the air distracting us from the proposed alliance between General Motors and Renault/Nissan, including talk about a GM alliance with Ford, purported "lukewarm feelings" within the ranks at GM about becoming aligned with the French-Japanese powerhouse, and even GM looking for cash as part of the deal.
Not to worry.
GM and Renault/Nissan have clambered back up to the forefront with a press release distributed this morning, stating that talks are still happening and the possibility of a merger is still under consideration.
GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner and Renault/Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn met today with the Paris Motor Show as their backdrop, hinting that a decision could be made in as early as three weeks. The two sides said in today's statements that GM, Nissan and Renault will continue to explore "how an alliance could generate significant shareholder value for each company."
[Source: Automotive News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
AnonymousInsights 3:10PM (9/27/2006)
Just another potential, massive consolidation which redistributes American prosperity and raises Europeon companies up for global domination and the Europeon commonwealth for future world governmental leadership. First Chrysler, then GM and next Ford. Scoff but we'll see how accurate I am in 3 years.
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Nick R 3:16PM (9/27/2006)
Maybe we'll get some cool French cars here? Hon hon hon, mais oui monsieur. Le Chevrolet Clio hon hon hon.
I hear they're quite popular in Europe- then again Volkswagen is considered a paragon of reliability and quality in Europe, so how much can they really know?
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iQuack 3:19PM (9/27/2006)
I think this whole idea will evaporate.
Kerkorian really wants to dump Wagoner and put Ghosn in charge of GM--a good idea, really.
But that's not going to happen and these talks will turn out to be little more than just so much hot air.
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Frank 3:26PM (9/27/2006)
I would rather Ride a bike than drive a French Car!
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Owen 3:32PM (9/27/2006)
Nothing more than a ploy to increase stock values. GM has little to gain and much to lose. I think they are already on the right track IMO, by leveraging thier opel brand with Saturn, and even the GMT900 platform vehicles. Nissan is not in great shape right now design-wise.
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rwdmtparkingonly 3:36PM (9/27/2006)
Both of these companies have the market completely covered, with rwd, front wheel drive, compact (Daewoo for GM) and commercial offerings. That really kills platform sharing opportunities.
They claim that this alliance would help their purchasing power, but I wasn't aware that the suppliers had anything left to negotiate away, even those not already in Bankruptcy.
#1, I wish European world domination was a threat, that would be way better than China, Radical Islam, or Christian Fundamentalists.
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Richard Warren 3:52PM (9/27/2006)
Key words: possibility, under consideration, hinting that a decision could be made,continue to explore.
Corporate bullshit, stock manipulation on both sides.
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infinihertz 4:15PM (9/27/2006)
"the French-Japanese powerhouse"... Erin Mays, when I think of Renault and Nissan, that's not the first thing to come to mind. I like Nissan's styling, but that's about it. Weren't there a bunch of articles about them bleeding cash recently? Renault is a company I know virtually nothing about, save Ghosn and stuff related to him. Toyota is the only auto company I'd call a powerhouse right now, and I'm not even convinced that's going to last past 2010 or so.
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KT 4:30PM (9/27/2006)
#7 Exactly.
This is a prolonged dance that is keeping GM's, and Nissan's to an extent, stocks from tumbling. Nissan is struggling here and back home in Japan. They are the only mfg in Japan to reduce their output. The Carlos magic maybe fading a bit.
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whofan 6:16PM (9/27/2006)
Kerkorian, is up there in age, why not he go off and enjoy his billions or just drop dead? So GM can get on with the business of building cars.
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carnut 6:39AM (9/28/2006)
Only reason Nissan is doing bad now is because most of their designs are due for a refresh:
Maxima is 3-4 years old already
Murano - same thing
Altima - 07 is here now
Sentra - soon
Versa - selling well
Quest - 3-4 years old
Infiniti is in the same boat:
G35 - 07 is hot
M - selling well
Q - DOA
FX - coming up on 4 years old
QX - Why?
I think when the new models are released sales will go back up. That being said, Nissan cars have soul, something Honda and Toyota will never understand. Honda gets handling, but power is nonexistant. Toyota builds boring $hitboxes that have tons of recalls. Although they have the public duped into thinking they are great cars.
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Bill Maher is an Idiot 2:34AM (9/28/2006)
The French have the right idea. Smelly, hairy women; snotty pussies; and ugly cars.
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Frank 12:40PM (9/28/2006)
#1, I wish European world domination was a threat, that would be way better than China, Radical Islam, or Christian Fundamentalists.
Posted at 3:36PM on Sep 27th 2006 by rwdmtparkingonly 0 stars
Let's see Radical Islam is blowing up people and things all over the world and the Chinese government (I'm sure you didn't mean the Chinese people, right?) restricts political and religious freedom and uses slave labor for some of their products. And the "Christian Fundamentalists"? What evil do they want to do? Pray before a football game, or display a nativity scene in public at CHRISTmas time (sorry, I should have said "winter holidays"). Yea, a real dangerous bunch, rwdmtparkingonly. Why don't you take your hate filled, bigoted diatribe to a Neo-Nazi or Klan website where it belongs.
And #11 You are just as bad in regards to the French.
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