How Renault-Nissan alliance went from rescue to mistrust

After Renault rescued Nissan in 1999 from looming bankruptcy, their alliance suffered up and downs over the years as rivalries and mutual suspicion led to increasing resentment at Nissan.

Renault has now agreed to lower its 43 percent holding in Nissan to 15 percent to put the partners on an equal footing.

Here is a timeline of key events in the alliance's history:

• 1996: Carlos Ghosn joins Renault as executive vice president after a successful career at Michelin. The next year, Ghosn unveils a cost-cutting plan. Renault's profitability jumps three-fold by the end of 1998.
• 1999: Renault rescues of debt-laden Nissan and Renault Chairman Louis Schweitzer sends Ghosn to Japan to revive the Japanese company. After cutting 21,000 jobs, or 14 percent of the workforce, shutting some plants and overhauling Nissan's corporate structure, Nissan hits its goals a year ahead of schedule. Ghosn becomes a business celebrity in Japan.
• 2000: Ghosn becomes Nissan CEO. By the end of 2000, Nissan is contributing roughly half of Renault's annual net profit.
• 2002: Nissan announces its Nissan 180 three-year plan, targeting an increase of 1 million vehicles in global sales by 2005.
• 2005: Nissan misses its sales target and announces a new three-year plan. Ghosn becomes CEO of Renault as well as Nissan.
• 2008: Nissan again fails to meet its main financial targets. The automaker announces another five-year plan but then scraps it due to the financial crisis.

• 2013: Renault and Nissan announce a common plan for low-cost development and manufacturing of vehicles. The next year, the two companies converge more functions, targeting 10 billion euros ($11 billion) in annual savings by about 2022.
• 2016: Nissan takes a controlling stake in Mitsubishi. Ghosn becomes chairman, making him chairman of all three partners.
• 2017: Both Nissan and Renault post record operating profits, though Nissan still falls short on some targets. The alliance together sells more than 10 million vehicles globally, making it one of the world's biggest automakers.
• 2018: Ghosn is arrested in Japan on charges of underreporting his salary for more than a decade. He is accused of other crimes including using Nissan funds for his own purposes. Ghosn, who has denied wrongdoing, is fired as chairman of the alliance.
• 2019: Nissan and Renault reel from the aftermath of Ghosn's arrest. Both automakers appoint new boards as profits continue to sink. The alliance names a new chairman, Michelin veteran Jean-Dominique Senard, while Makoto Uchida becomes Nissan's new chief executive.Tensions escalate after Renault attempts to tighten capital ties with Nissan, a move rebuked by the Japanese automaker. On Dec. 29, Ghosn escapes from Japan onboard a chartered flight. He eventually arrives in Lebanon, his childhood home, where he is barred from leaving the country but remains protected from extradition.
• 2020: With the COVID-19 crisis triggering losses at both automakers, Renault secures a state-backed loan worth 5 billion euros to shore up its liquidity. Luca De Meo becomes Renault CEO in July. Alliance Chairman Senard rules out any merger of the carmaking partners, saying they do not need to combine to be efficient.
• 2022: De Meo announces plans to split Renault's electric vehicles business from its combustion engine operations. Media reports say Nissan wants Renault to cut its stake to 15 percent, in exchange for investing in Renault's EV unit. Technology-sharing emerges in October as a sticking point between the two companies in the talks, people familiar with the negotiations said. Renault later provides proposals to address those concerns, and a deal is announced on Jan. 30, 2023.