TOKYO (AP) – Nissan plans to invest EUR600 million (USD663 million) in Ampere, Renault’s electric vehicle and software entity in Europe. The two companies also plan to establish more equal cross-shareholdings in the French-Japanese auto alliance, they said yesterday.
The change will end a disparity that had caused friction between the automakers.
Renault Group and Nissan will retain 15 per cent cross-shareholdings in each other, and Renault will transfer 28.4 per cent of its Nissan shares into a French trust, to keep voting rights of each side at 15 per cent of the total, the companies said in a statement.
“The agreements that have been signed today allow us to step into the next chapter of the alliance,” said Jean-Dominique Senard, chairman of the alliance.
The change is subject to regulatory approval.
When the alliance was set up in 1999, Nissan was on the verge of bankruptcy. The deal initially announced earlier this year also calls for the companies to work together on marketing, vehicles and technology in Latin America, India and Europe.
Nissan also announced financial results, which showed that its net profit more than doubled to JPY105.5 billion (USD753 million) in April-June. Sales in most markets were robust, offsetting weakness in China, it said.
Weakness in the Japanese yen also helped Nissan’s bottom line. A weak yen raises the value of Japanese companies’ overseas earnings when they are converted into yen.
Quarterly sales grew 36 per cent from a year earlier to JPY2.92 trillion (USD20.8 billion).
Nissan lowered its sales forecast for the year through March 2024 to 3.7 million vehicles, down from an earlier projection of four million vehicles. That target is still better than the 3.3 million vehicles sold in the previous fiscal year.
The Yokohama-based maker of the Leaf EV and Infiniti luxury brands still expects its profit to hold up thanks to the boost from the weak yen. Nissan is forecasting a JPY340 billion (USD2.4 billion) net profit for the fiscal year through March 31, 2024.
