Nissan and Renault heart Chrysler, seek menage-a-trois

General Motors may be seeking some sort of coupling with Chrysler but apparently there is another would-be suitor waiting beneath the balcony. And this one brought roses. The perpetually-troubled maker of Hemi's and recentelectric vehicleespouser now has a new offer from the head of Nissan-Renault, Carlos Ghosn. According to the Detroit News, Chrysler's largest stakeholder, Cerberus Capital Management LP has received a proposal offering to buy up a 20 percent stake and turn the French-Japanese relationship into a menage-a-trois. Nissan, which, unlike GM, has a bit of cash on hand, already has an arrangement to put together some small vehicles for Chrysler and the American trollop is said to be building the next-gen Titan pick-up for Nissan. Reports say the pair share good chemistry. As an aside, Daimler, who recently shared a marital bed with Chrysler, is probably hoping their remaining 19.9 per cent share gets taken off their hands so they can finalize their divorce and get on with their life.

So what's all this corporate hanky-panky mean for ABG readers? Renault, Nissan and Chrysler are all talking up electric cars in 2010. The kind of buying synergy for things like batteries and control systems resulting from the tie-up could go some distance toward making future EV products from the tri-glomerate cost competitive with the other global auto-makers out there. If it also brought some eco-friendly Renaults to Chrysler sales lots, that would be a plus.

[Source: Detroit News]