Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s president and CEO, said Nissan “needs to evaluate” the “advantages” of alliance partner Renault’s planned electric car company before it can consider working with it.
The announcement comes after Renault announced it will split its electric vehicle business into separate companies and plans to go public as early as next year. Renault has asked its Japanese partners Nissan and Mitsubishi to participate in the split electric vehicle joint venture and has opened discussions for joint investment.
Makoto Uchida said in an interview, “When I studied Renault’s core European markets, I found that this electric car company fits Renault’s reform measures and is the right choice for Renault to make.”
However, Nissan, which operates primarily in the U.S., Japanese and Chinese markets, faces a different level of urgency in responding to the demand for electric vehicles. In addition, Renault’s proposed electric vehicle joint venture would be headquartered in France, meaning its main base of operations would be in Europe.
Makoto Uchida said, “We are discussing various possibilities in terms of how we can contribute to Nissan’s growth.”
Photo credit: Nissan
In January, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance announced plans to launch 35 electric vehicles by the fiscal year 2030, 90 percent of which will be produced using five shared platforms. Makoto Uchida said that the Renault EV joint venture “will not affect the basic points previously announced by the alliance. We will use the assets of the alliance to take the partnership to the next level”. Makoto Uchida also expressed a vision of growth centered on the Franco-Japanese alliance. “At this point, we are not considering cooperation with other car companies.”
Makoto Uchida took office in December 2019, when Nissan was struggling due to the arrest of former boss Carlos Ghosn, among other factors. Since then, he has been working to rebuild Nissan and the alliance.
Nissan posted a huge loss for two consecutive years due to the New Crown epidemic but turned around in the last fiscal year (April 2021 to March 2022). But the company still faces some challenges, such as how to make its auto business profitable. Makoto Uchida said, “We already have models that can be profitable.” He is confident that Nissan will improve its profitability.
