Renault Group has started talking to iPhone assembler Foxconn about selling its Nissan Motor shares, the Financial Times reported. Foxconn was rumoured to have entered into discussions with Renault over the same in 2024, but the latest round of chats comes amid reports of Nissan’s merger talks with Honda Motor collapsing.
- Renault holds a 36 percent stake in Nissan
- It is in a 25-year-old global alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi
The French car brand currently holds a 36 percent stake in Nissan, maintaining an alliance since 1999. Out of the total shareholding, Renault wants to offload 18.7 percent, which is held in a trust. Mitsubishi Motor is also a part of this alliance.
This search for new investors hints that the merger talks may have ended, though an official statement is yet to come from the Japanese car brands. With Nissan lacking a new partner, Renault would end up with depressed shares, FT reported further. The lookout would span technology groups around the world, including Apple.
“Today, the priority is Nissan’s turnaround,” Renault said in a statement while adding that it was assessing all options and would vigorously defend the interests of the company as well as the stakeholders.
Nissan is independently scouting for a US-based partner, ideally from the tech sector, Bloomberg reported. Honda and Nissan were to form the world’s fourth largest car brand by sales. Discussions started to falter after Honda reportedly proposed that Nissan become its subsidiary, differing from their original plan of establishing a holding company. Mitsubishi had earlier pulled out from the joint venture talks with Honda. Our Honda and Nissan merger talks explained report details the chain of events for a better understanding of the story.
Hormazd Sorabjee
Anurag Chaturvedi
