Renault reportedly plans to sell Nissan shares
Nissan – along with Renault and Mitsubishi – finished third in 2021 sales globally as part of the alliance. That would lead one to think that everything is good between the triumvirate. Well, such is not the case.
Reports came out late last week that Renault plans to sell part of its 43% share of Nissan, composed of 1.83 billion shares worth EUR 7.1 billion. On the other hand, Nissan isn’t happy with the French automaker as they only have a 15% non-voting stake in Renault, yet have the larger volume in terms of vehicle sales.
The price of Nissan stock dropped by 4.8% to JPY 509.8 resulting in their biggest one-day slide since March 2022.
Renault’s plan to sell comes from the desire to raise funds to put up a separate electric vehicle business that can challenge top brands like Tesla, Lucid Motors, and Rivian. But they are currently in a crisis after shutting down operations in Russia, which happens to be one of their most profitable markets. They stand to lose 2.2 billion euros in the process.
Nissan can very well be one of the buyers of its own stock should Renault push through with the sale. The Japanese automaker is set to make bank after a couple of good years in the market and is liquid to the tune of JPY 2 trillion. Nissan CEO Ashwani Gupta is headed to Paris this week to discuss the matter with Renault CEO Luca de Meo.
Keyword: Nissan stock falls after rumors of Renault sale