The Financial Times reports that senior executives at Nissan have accelerated secret contingency planning for a potential split from Renault as the downfall of Carlos Ghosn continues to reverberate through the 20-year-old automotive alliance.
The plans quoted by the Financial Times include war-gaming a total divide in engineering and manufacturing, as well as changes to Nissan’s board, according to several sources, and have been ramped up since Mr Ghosn’s dramatic escape from Japan in late December.
The move to map out a potential split is the latest sign of tension in the alliance held together for nearly two decades by Mr Ghosn, former chief executive and chairman of both companies.
Despite efforts to improve relations on both sides, the partnership with Renault — which produces 10m cars a year — had become toxic, said two of the people, with many senior Nissan executives now believing the French carmaker is a drag on its Japanese counterpart.
A full split would probably force both carmakers to seek new partners in an industry grappling with falling sales and rising costs from the shift to electric vehicles. It would also leave both businesses smaller at a time when rivals are bulking up, with Fiat Chrysler and PSA merging and Volkswagen and Ford forming their own alliance.
Read more via The Financial Times
