Carlos Ghosn predicts trouble ahead for Nissan-Renault Alliance amid shrinking ties

Carlos Ghosn, the ex-Chairman and CEO of Nissan and Renault, has again targeted his former bosses in a new interview with French news channel BFM TV. Based in Lebanon since his dramatic escape from Japan in 2019, Ghosn continues to make headlines with his frank and sometimes provocative views on the auto industry — and especially on the firms he used to run.

Speaking to BFM TV, Ghosn claimed he had long foreseen Nissan’s decline and the weakening of the Renault-Nissan alliance. “I had foreseen the decline of Nissan and the disappearance of the alliance," he said. While the companies have not officially dissolved the partnership, they are gradually unwinding their close financial ties.

Cross-shareholdings between Nissan and Renault are being reduced from 15 per cent to 10 per cent. Earlier in the year Renault Group said that it would acquire the remaining 51 per cent shareholding in the Renault-Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd (RNAIPL).

The majority stake in the RNAIPL is currently held by Nissan Motor Corp. Purchasing this stake will allow Renault to take complete ownership of the Renault-Nissan Alliance's manufacturing plant in India.and Renault is acquiring Nissan’s 51 per cent stake in their Indian operations. Ghosn didn’t mince words, calling Nissan “boring" and “mediocre", and described the once powerful alliance with Renault as “small and fragile."

Inside the failed merger talks with Honda

In the interview, Ghosn also addressed reports of a failed merger between Nissan and Honda. While these discussions never reached a formal agreement, Ghosn criticised the proposal as a thinly veiled attempt by Honda to take over Nissan. According to him, “a merger between Nissan and Honda doesn’t make sense", and the negotiations revealed a power imbalance from the start.

His claims were seemingly validated when Honda later admitted it had proposed a structure that would make Nissan its subsidiary — not an equal partner. The revised proposal abandoned the initial idea of a joint holding company and instead pushed for a share exchange that would give Honda the right to appoint most of the board and the CEO.

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