The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Renault

  • Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi may discuss merger

    Car makers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi may discuss a merger later in the future, Jean-Dominique Senard, the Chief Executive Officer of the French car manufacturer said on Saturday.

    “These discussions over a capitalistic merger have been carried out for a while and they were brought out in a dramatic way recently. I think that later on, as events unfold, Renault, Nissan and Mistubishi will think about that with serenity,” Senard said in an interview with France Inter radio station.

    For now, the companies are working on ways to optimise their alliance, said Senard, who heads of it.

    Talks about a possible merger over the past days “have scared out everybody”, Senard said.

    The removal of Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, credited with rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy in 1999, from the head of the alliance has raised a cloud of uncertainty about its future.

    As Nissan ponders its future without Ghosn, who is charged with financial misconduct, French partner Renault has been quietly manoeuvring for merger talks, sources at both automakers have recently told Reuters.

    Ghosn has denied all charges against him.

  • Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi may discuss merger

    Car makers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi may discuss a merger later in the future, Jean-Dominique Senard, the Chief Executive Officer of the French car manufacturer said on Saturday.

    “These discussions over a capitalistic merger have been carried out for a while and they were brought out in a dramatic way recently. I think that later on, as events unfold, Renault, Nissan and Mistubishi will think about that with serenity,” Senard said in an interview with France Inter radio station.

    For now, the companies are working on ways to optimise their alliance, said Senard, who heads of it.

    Talks about a possible merger over the past days “have scared out everybody”, Senard said.

    The removal of Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn, credited with rescuing Nissan from near-bankruptcy in 1999, from the head of the alliance has raised a cloud of uncertainty about its future.

    As Nissan ponders its future without Ghosn, who is charged with financial misconduct, French partner Renault has been quietly manoeuvring for merger talks, sources at both automakers have recently told Reuters.

    Ghosn has denied all charges against him.

  • Renault to invest $684m to build new car in Spain

    Renault said it will invest more than 600 million euros ($684 million) in a project in Spain that includes building a new car and a new engine in its Valladolid plant.

    The 2017-2020 project would exceed Renault’s previous two investment plans in Spain, a company spokesman said, without giving any more details.

    Renault’s largest previous investment in the country had been 600 million euros.

    Renault builds the Clio subcompact hatchback, Captur subcompact SUV and Twizy four-wheel electric scooter in Valladolid, according to Automotive News Europe’s Guide to European Assembly Plants.

  • Renault unveils ‘athletic’ pick-up truck

    RENAULT has released pictures of a pick-up truck concept called Alaskan that previews an actual production model, due to hit UK roads in 2017.

    Pick-ups account for a third of all light commercial vehicles sold in the United Kingdom (UK). They are now increasingly being bought for leisure reasons.

    The Alaskan is designed to appeal to the business market with what Renault claims is a strong chassis and high ground clearance.

    The cabin can accommodate five people and a payload in excess of a tonne can be carried in the load bed, which also has recesses to help fix cargo or equipment and storage bins.

    The intention behind the Alaskan’s design is to create an athletic, but robust vehicle that will appeal to both the business and leisure markets.

    The styling of the Alaskan concept sticks to the rules of the pick-up segment, including impressive dimensions and a visual sense of power and robustness

    These are evident in the sculpted styling of the sides and the prominent wheel arches, a front end with a ribbed bonnet, LED lights, different metal finishes, and a series of blue and yellow details on the likes of the door mirrors, brake callipers, wheel rim centres and the front tow hook.

    Laurens van den Acker, Renault’s chief designer, said: “The styling of the Alaskan concept sticks to the rules of the pick-up segment, including impressive dimensions and a visual sense of power and robustness.

    “At the same time, we have dialed in specific Renault cues in the form of an attractive, status-enhancing front-end design.”

    Under the bonnet, the Alaskan has the same four-cylinder, twin-turbo engine found in the Master range of vans.

    The production pick-up goes on sale in 2017 and will be built alongside the next Nissan Navara and a planned truck from Mercedes-Benz.

  • Nissan, Renault sell 200,000 electric cars

    Nissan, Renault sell 200,000 electric cars

    A little less than four years ago, the first 2011 Nissan Leaf electric car was delivered to eager buyer Olivier Chalouhi in San Francisco.

    Earlier this month, Nissan and its partner the French carmaker Renault delivered their 200,000th electric car.

    Collectively, those cars have driven roughly 2.5 billion million miles (4 billion million km) without adding any airborne emissions to the atmosphere from the vehicle.

    The Renault-Nissan Alliance now claims a 58-percent share of the market for vehicles with no tailpipe emissions.

    Of those sales, the Alliance says that 66,500 were logged from January through early November of this year – a 20 percent increase on 2013 levels.

    Since December 2010, Nissan has sold just under 150,000 electric cars in the United States, Asia, and Europe; Renault delivered the rest in Europe and other regions.

    The Nissan Leaf is by far the best-selling electric car in history, and one of two current battery-electric vehicles from Nissan.

    The other is the e-NV200 small commercial van, now being evaluated for sale in the U.S.

    The Alliance has partnered with a variety of governments, organisations, groups, and companies to continue the rollout of DC fast-charging stations across the globe.

    Regardless of the pace, the gamble taken by the Renault-Nissan Alliance has clearly met one of its business goals: The two carmakers dominate the battery-electric vehicle business.