Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of Renault and Nissan, said he was still eyeing an alliance with a North American partner, according to a newspaper interview released on Sunday.
Standard & Poor’s said on Thursday General Motors Corp. was unlikely to join the Renault-Nissan alliance, adding that it provided too much “execution risk” for GM, the world’s biggest automaker.
The Wall Street Journal and Detroit News newspapers reported on Friday that two months of talks between GM, Renault and Nissan had resulted in little progress toward an alliance.
Ghosn told French daily Le Parisien in an interview due to be published on Monday that he was thinking about broadening the Renault-Nissan alliance to a North American partner, but did not name any companies.
“It (the broadened alliance) will be able to crystallize on two conditions: finding synergies and a similar appetite on the part of the three firms’ management teams,” Ghosn said.
“I can tell you that as far as the synergies are concerned, they will be significant,” he added.
There would be greater profits for the three companies thanks to cost reductions and shared investments, he said.
“Now we are discussing how and how far we can push this project ... We will have the conclusions on October 15,” he added.
The company accepted the consequences of a currently ”rather poor” range of products, Ghosn said.
“We must close ranks, grit our teeth, until September 2007,” he said, when asked if he expected a difficult year to come.
