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Nissan to invest US$663 million in Renault EV unit Ampere as Franco-Japanese alliance is rejigged

  • Nissan and Renault formalise deal to reduce French carmaker’s stake in Japanese partner to 15 per cent
  • Renault CEO Luca de Meo is revamping the company’s corporate structure to better tackle the shift to electric vehicles and bolster profits

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Long-term partners Nissan and Renault will work together on electric cars. Photo: Reuters
Bloomberg
Nissan Motor has finalised plans to invest in Renault’s electric-vehicle venture Ampere, capping months of negotiations to rebalance the troubled automotive alliance.
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Nissan will invest as much as €600 million (US$663 million) in the business, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday. Separately, the pair formalised a deal for Renault to reduce its ownership of Nissan to 15 per cent by placing the rest of its current 43 per cent shareholding in a French trust.

“These agreements provide us with a solid base to reactivate business operations worldwide in key markets, with the potential to generate hundreds of millions in value,” Renault CEO Luca de Meo said in the statement. “They give us the strategic agility that we need more than ever in today’s rapidly evolving environment.”

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The Ampere agreement is a vote of confidence for de Meo’s strategy. He is been revamping the manufacturer’s corporate structure to better tackle the shift to EVs and bolster profits, while trying to fix the Franco-Japanese alliance that also includes smaller partner Mitsubishi Motors. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

“It is difficult for us to do business in Europe alone, so investing in Ampere gave us an opportunity to connect with other companies,” Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida said.

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