Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is poised to announce a tie-up with Renault SA as soon as Monday, opening a path for the Italian-American automaker to eventually become part of the Renault-Nissan Motor Co. alliance, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deal may include an exchange of equity, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions aren’t public. Nissan isn’t involved, though the transaction would allow the carmakers to join forces later, the people said.
The talks with Fiat have moved ahead despite tensions between Renault and Nissan, illustrating the intense pressure facing automakers to combine efforts and investments.
With sales falling in the world’s biggest car markets, manufacturers are being pushed by regulators to electrify and reduce fleet emissions. At the same time, they’ve been forced to spend heavily on self-driving technology or get left behind by new, deep-pocketed competitors like Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo.
Talks between Fiat and Renault have accelerated in recent days, as negotiators found a way to structure a deal, the people said. Renault’s board is scheduled to meet Monday morning. Representatives from the two companies declined to comment.
An agreement would hold the potential for extensive cost savings in Europe — where Fiat employed almost one-third of its global work force of 198,500 last year, despite making almost all of its profit in North America. Renault, which is 15% owned by the French government, counts on Europe for almost half its sales.
Fiat also held initial talks with Peugeot owner PSA Group as it evaluates potential partners, the people said. PSA remains open to “opportunities that would create value on a long-term basis,” it said in an email.
French Meetings
Falling sales in the three major regions — China, the US and Europe — have brought fresh urgency to the cause of consolidation championed for years by the late former Fiat chief, Sergio Marchionne, and deposed Renault-Nissan Chairman Carlos Ghosn.
Fiat has been seeking a partner in recent months, with talks focused on Renault and PSA. Fiat Chairman John Elkann and Chief Executive Officer Mike Manley have made several trips to Paris since the beginning of the year for business meetings as part of their search for ways to make the carmaker stronger, the people said.
Renault has been trying to firm up its two-decade alliance with Nissan, which was shaken by the arrest of Ghosn last November over alleged financial misdeeds. His departure surfaced tensions between the partners, with Nissan executives resisting new proposals by Renault to cement ties through the creation of a holding-company structure.
Renault owns 43% of Nissan — the bigger partner — which in turn owns 15% of Renault, with no voting rights. A 2015 agreement granted Nissan guarantees preventing Renault from interfering in its governance, a move the Japanese carmaker considered necessary because the French government is Renault’s most powerful shareholder.
Recent Truce
Relations have steadied in recent weeks, with the appointment of Renault CEO Thierry Bollore to the board of its Japanese partner, and the reappointment of Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, who opposes a merger with Renault. Still, a Renault deal with Fiat would put pressure on Nissan, while potentially making the resulting partnership more formidable.
Together, Renault, Nissan and third partner Mitsubishi Motors Corp. sold 10.76 million passenger cars and light trucks last year, putting them on par with the world’s two biggest automakers, Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. Adding Fiat to the French and Japanese alliance would bring the total to more 15 million vehicles a year, with a strong presence in all major markets and premium brands like Jeep, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Infiniti under a common umbrella.
Renault’s partnership with Nissan was thrust into the spotlight in November with the arrest of Ghosn, the chairman and architect of the global car-making alliance. In the aftermath, Nissan CEO Saikawa has sought to pull back from Europe and North America, where he contends the Japanese company has sacrificed profit for volume.
‘Junkie’ Confessions
Fiat Chrysler has been looking for a tie-up since Marchionne created the Italian-American carmaker in 2014. A year later, Marchionne became vocal on the auto industry’s need for consolidation in an analyst presentation called “Confessions of a Capital Junkie.”
Marchionne argued then that carmakers waste 2 billion euros ($2.24 billion) a week by duplicating investments they could share. At the time, Renault-Nissan was considered the second-best fit for Fiat after General Motors Co., according to people familiar with the plan. GM rebuffed Fiat’s approaches.
Fiat also has history with French President Emmanuel Macron, whose support would be needed, along with Italian officials, for a deal that could involve major job cuts in France and Italy. In 2013 Macron, then a top adviser to President Francois Hollande, had preliminary talks with Fiat about a merger with troubled Peugeot.
Bloomberg reported in April that Fiat and PSA were discussing a ‘super-platform’ — the underpinning of a car model — as part of a partnership to share investments. While PSA remains open to deals, based on 2018’s financial results, “there is no hurry to finalise any partnership,” according to an emailed statement.
