Japan's Nissan and France's Renault have approved opening talks with US auto giant General Motors (GM) over a possible alliance, the Japan-ese and French automakers said.
Nissan Motor Co's board of directors met on Monday and decided the company "should proceed with exploratory discussions concerning a potential alliance with General Motors," Nissan said in a statement.
The talks will be conditional on GM endorsing a proposal by its major shareholder, Kirk Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp, that GM join the alliance between Nissan and its partner, Renault SA, the statement said.
PHOTO: AP
Later on Monday, the Renault board approved opening talks with General Motors over a possible new alliance with Nissan Motor Co -- if the US company wants the discussions, Renault said in Paris.
"The board of directors approved the position proposed by Carlos Ghosn: Exploratory discussions with General Motors concerning a potential alliance could start if General Motors Corp makes the proposal," the brief Renault statement said.
Ghosn is the CEO of both Renault and Nissan.
Local media reports have said Renault and Nissan could buy up to 20 percent of outstanding shares in GM.
Details of the possible investment plan surfaced after billionaire investor and major GM shareholder Kerkorian proposed on Friday that the troubled US carmaker join the Nissan-Renault alliance.
Ghosn has discussed the matter with Kerkorian and is willing to talk to GM, according to a separate statement by Nissan and Renault.
Plant closures
GM has been engaged in an extensive turnaround plan in North America amid declining profits, high labor costs and growing competition from Asian automakers.
The automaker announced plans last year to close 12 plants by 2008 and said 35,000 hourly workers had agreed to retire early or accept a buyout offer.
If it materializes, the deal would create a huge auto alliance with annual output exceeding 15 million vehicles and commanding nearly one-quarter of the global market share, according to news reports.
A three-way alliance could also mean the departure of GM's chief executive, G. Richard Wagoner Jr, and leave Ghosn overseeing the three companies.
Ghosn is hailed for pulling back Nissan from the brink of collapse in 1999 and turning it into one of the world's most profitable car makers.
The auto industry, however, is rife with ambitious mergers and alliances that have gone awry. Last year, GM had to pay US$2 billion to break an alliance forged in 2000 with Italy's Fiat SpA after the Italian automaker's finances and market share began to collapse.
Three-way tie-up
In the 1990s, BMW AG lost billions after buying Britain's Rover. DaimlerChrysler AG even tried a three-way partnership of its own, bringing in Mitsubishi Motors Corp, but unraveled the tie-up last year.
Ghosn's initial thinking about a GM-Renault-Nissan partnership is centered on potential cost reductions, news reports said.
He suspects the three companies together could reap substantial savings if they were to cooperate on engineering; share the basic underpinnings, or platforms, of vehicles; and consolidate their manufacturing operations, the reports said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source