business

Nissan-Renault on smoother road but speed bumps loom, say analysts

23 Comments
By Anne Beade

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

© 2019 AFP

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


23 Comments
Login to comment

“It’s not a bad idea that the old team goes and new people come in, ” said Pierre Quemener, an analyst at MainFirst Bank AG. “This could be sort of a new beginning, not the end of the alliance.”

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The reluctance of any country's car company to be owned by a foreign one is entirely understandable when you look at what Ford have done to Saab, Ford in Australia, and General Motors to Holden in the same country. Dumped their factories.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

from Bloomberg: "Nissan CEO Suggests He'll ‘Pass the Baton’ After Alliance Reset" at

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-24/nissan-ceo-suggests-he-ll-pass-the-baton-after-alliance-reset

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Saikawa is saying he will step down, after Renault's new appointed heads!

He didn't say that.  He clearly said he remained in his post.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Those speed bumps - If only there was some kind of system that would stop them speeding in the first place.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

*Ghosn rescued Nissan from the verge of bankruptcy by tying it to the alliance but now the Japanese firm "has a passion to be independent. They do not want to be part of the French state", said Nakanishi

All this I stated earlier, it's all a planned coup, no one believed it before. But the reality has shown light and justice will prevail

1 ( +1 / -0 )

*dark mutterings in Paris of a "coup" orchestrated by CEO Hiroto Saikawa to depose his former mentor and seize more power within the group

Finally awoken to the realities of what Saikawa is planning..

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Is it just me but this article reads like an ADMISSION that the J- govt had Ghosn & Kelly kidnapped at Japanese Nissan's request!

I mean we all know that but this article lays it ALL OUT IN PLAIN SIGHT!!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@Goodlucktoyou Mitsubishi is busy giving bowing apologies for abusing the foreign intern system.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Hey Goodlucktoyou....I wonder if you could elaborate on that comment?

How does owning a car bind you to the management of that company?

You bought it, it's yours...change the brand labels to Ford...no one cares?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Where is Mitsubishi in all this? I have a Mitsubishi car and don’t want the company owned by a company headed by a serious alledged top league criminal getting my money.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Things only get more interesting... Saikawa is saying he will step down, after Renault's new appointed heads! Suspicious, very suspicious...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Pure propaganda from Nissan. This reads like Nissan is in charge, they are not, their entire board will get nuked if they keep this "everything is fine now, we fixed the problem" BS way of acting.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Having your cake and eat it.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I still find it amazing that Japan Inc. believes they have every right to buy major foreign companies, but that major Japanese companies should not be bought by foreign companies.

Too right.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Name ANY company that wants to be controlled by an outside interest? Japanese companies are no different nor "special" either.

Not entirely true. In the U.S. and U.K., the idea that public companies are bought and sold is widely accepted and, in fact, the management / shareholders of companies demand that shareholder value be maximized.

I know of what I speak. I ran the Japanese office a large, publicly traded U.S. financial institution in the 1990s. The CEO would regularly visit Japan and during the late 1990s, when the M&A activity in the U.S. financial sector was high, there was speculation as to what would happen to our institution. Over drinks in Tokyo (the CEO had a thing for Maker's Mark), we discussed this topic.

He said that his responsibility was to shareholders and while maintaining the firm's independence was important, ultimately it came down to maximizing value for shareholders. And, less than 18 months later, the firm was acquired by another institution. I had left by then, as I could see the writing on the wall.

I am not saying Japan is unique, but their aversion to non-Japanese ownership is different, although I suppose the same is true for French, German, and Korean companies.

Why? If you have lived here for any amount of time, the institutional, almost inbred, belief that Japan Inc is better should not amaze anyone.

"Amazed" was the wrong word. Not amazed, just "Regularly reminded".

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Name me one Japanese company that wants to be controlled by another company, especially a foreign owned company!!

Name ANY company that wants to be controlled by an outside interest? Japanese companies are no different nor "special" either.

I still find it amazing that Japan Inc. believes they have every right to buy major foreign companies, but that major Japanese companies should not be bought by foreign companies.

Why? If you have lived here for any amount of time, the institutional, almost inbred, belief that Japan Inc is better should not amaze anyone.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

People forgot that Renault should be managed as a private compagny (that's what it is) and not like an actual state owned company.

There are a number of "private" companies here in Japan have the government as the major stockholder. However Renault is by far the largest shareholder in Nissan, and whether or not Nissan has higher sales or value, it would be stupid of them to cut ties with Nissan.

I personally would love to see Renault take over Nissan!

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Ghosn rescued Nissan from the verge of bankruptcy by tying it to the alliance but now the Japanese firm "has a passion to be independent. They do not want to be part of the French state", said Nakanishi.

Well, that is sort of stating the obvious.

Name me one Japanese company that wants to be controlled by another company, especially a foreign owned company!!

Which, again, is what all of this was about. Nissan may not have any ownership by the Japanese government, but the idea that the Japanese government is not working with Nissan behind the scenes to ensure a merger into Renault is prevented is absolutely ludicrous.

I still find it amazing that Japan Inc. believes they have every right to buy major foreign companies, but that major Japanese companies should not be bought by foreign companies.

But then again, the French have a similar mindset.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

They (Nissan, i.e. Japan) do not want to be part of the French state.

.

And understandably so.

Look at the chaos - the economy is is strained and tenuous at best.

-1 ( +3 / -4 )

Hello.

People forgot that Renault should be managed as a private compagny (that's what it is) and not like an actual state owned company.

Like in Japan a lot of private friends of the government got too many interest in many compagnies , that's the case in France with Renault.

And a lot of people forgot that Renault was until 1945 a private company, but french state took their hands on it since they declare that Renault had ties with nazi german regime. In 1990 French state sold some his stake, in 1996 french state got less that 38% of the stake and the company was officialy no more a state own company

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Be interesting to see if Renault really goes through with attempting to fully merge with Nissan and take over controlling interest in stocks.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites