Renault no longer wants to ‘follow’ Nissan in China

The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance has been through quite a bit of tension in recent years. First there was of course all the fuss about former CEO Carlos Ghosn and then a new division of roles came on the table in 2020. The alliance went for a ‘leader-follower’ principle, whereby the different brands were allocated their own main markets. In that context, Renault was pushed aside in China in favor of Nissan. This is what the Chinese experience when they want to buy a car: Nissan has an extensive and varied range, while Renault has all but disappeared in China since the end of the joint venture with Brilliance, founded in 2017. That has to change, according to CEO Luca de Meo Bloomberg.

The Spanish CEO calls the entire China strategy ‘wrong’ and wants to get rid of the principle that Renault leaves that market to alliance partner Nissan. That it is moving in that direction is also apparent from the recently forged collaboration with Geely. One of its goals is to set up a joint venture that should lead to the production of hybrid Renaults for the Chinese market. Renault is therefore returning, thereby ignoring the division of roles that was previously settled in the alliance. “It’s not Nissan’s fault, but Renault’s whole strategy in China was wrong,” said De Meo.

Nissan would not be involved by Renault in the exploratory talks with Geely last summer. That may not have turned out quite right. According to Bloomberg Nissan does not yet want to respond substantively to De Meo’s statements. Chief executive Makoto Uchida did say that the ‘alliance will always maintain a strategic partnership’. “We have worked together successfully for 21 years. That attitude will remain and its momentum needs to be strengthened,” says the Japanese. Still positive words, although we can imagine that a Renault that goes against the expressed vision on its own will cause some tensions.