Autoblog

According to the French newspaper Le Parisien, Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn is on the hunt again for a U.S. partner. Considering that talks with General Motors about a possible alliance fell through last year when neither side could agree on what the other's partnership was worth, Ghosn has only Ford and Chrysler to consider now. Ford Motor Company is consumed with the task of turning itself around, and Chrysler is still on its honeymoon with Cerberus Capital Management after being sold by Daimler, so we're not sure either automaker is in a state of mind to talk alliances at the moment. However, Ghosn knows there are economies of scale to be had and excess production capacity to be utlized on U.S. soil, so the maestro of mergers will still be looking to hold hands with one of our domestic automakers in the near future.

[Source: Motor Authority]

Swiss-born GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz was asked by a Swiss newspaper Sunday if his company would go it alone or seek a merger with Ford. Lutz answered, "We are open to alliances. But we can also be successful alone."

Does this mean GM and Ford are talking merger? Not likely, but it could mean more cooperation in the future, like the co-developed 6-speed transmission being used in Ford's Edge and Saturn's Aura.

Lutz also said GM was still open to working with Renault-Nissan despite a recent report saying Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn was no longer interested in talking to U.S. automakers about possible alliances.

[Source: SonntagsZeitung via Reuters]

Forget Carlos Ghosn and Renault-Nissan... if you're going to sell out, do it right. According to BusinessWeek, Toyota Motor Company is none too excited to see any kind of partnership between Renault-Nissan and GM, let alone a 20-percent stake in GM for Ghosn's company. An alliance, which GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn are mulling over for the next 90 days, could range anywhere from sharing engineering to a full-blown partnership that includes sharing platforms, engines, manufacturing capacity and more.

While nothing has been uttered publicly about a deal between Toyota and General Motors, there are whispers floating around that the rapidly-growing Japanese company might be able to make GM an offer it can't refuse -- without buying an equity stake, which is something Toyota typically avoids, according to BW. Toyota would instead focus on joint ventures, sharing technology and engineering capabilities, and other plans that may be closer to what GM needs to get out of trouble.

[Source: BusinessWeek via MSNBC]