Renault, Nissan to add more joint dealerships

PARIS -- The rebalancing of the Renault-Nissan Alliance will bring new models to Europe, but it also has the potential to reshape fundamental operations such as finance, distribution, retail and end-of-life disposal of cars.

Renault and Nissan announced they will activate a series of joint “high value creation” projects on Monday involving new cars, vans and pickups in India, Latin America and Europe.

Beyond cars, several newly announced collaborations could help the partners cut operational costs and increase dealer margins in Europe.

On the retail side, Renault CEO Luca de Meo said, the number of shared Renault/Nissan dealerships owned by outside investors will be doubled by 2025. “This will substantially increase those investors' profitability and reduce distribution costs,” he said.

The companies will "develop common strategies" on after sales, used cars and financing, using Renault's Mobilize unit, which includes the former captive RCI Bank.

Nissan will also join Renault in setting up a network of electric-vehicle charging stations, potentially joining the coming Mobilize network, which will have hundreds of high-power stations and rest stops at Renault dealerships near major highways. The goal, de Meo said, is to rival “the leader of the market,” without naming the competitor. He later said the goal was to "fight Ionity or be at the same level as Tesla."

And Nissan will help Renault build critical mass in its “circular economy” activities such as second life for older EV batteries, reconditioning used cars and recycling parts. “Renault has big ambitions, so it makes a lot of sense if Nissan jumps on the wagon,” de Meo added.

Mitsubishi will receive immediate help in rebuilding its European lineup, with the previously announced Mitsubishi ASX and Colt, rebadged versions of the Renault Captur and Clio, respectively. 

The new models, which will go on sale this year, mark a reversal of Mitsubishi’s earlier plan to halt investment in new models for Europe, and will help Renault fill capacity in factories in Spain and Turkey -- and boost volumes for the Japanese brand, which sold just 54,000 cars in Europe last year. It is aiming for 130,000 sales by 2024.

A previously unannounced project is a Nissan version of the coming Mobilize FlexEVan, an electric “software enabled” delivery van to be built with an undisclosed tech partner, in 2026. 

The same year, a small Nissan EV built by Renault in France with 80 percent common components as the coming Renault 5 will be launched. 

Looking beyond 2026, Nissan and Renault “will explore possible collaborations” on compact full-electric vehicles. The Nissan Ariya compact electric SUV and the Renault Megane E-Tech compact electric hatchback currently share a platform; Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida suggested that the brand was working on a compact hatchback with Renault to complement the Ariya.

Since Nissan is not the lead alliance company for Europe, Uchida said that he regarded Renault’s coming Ampere EV unit “as an enabler for new business opportunities in Europe.” He has committed to investing up to 15 percent in the spinoff.

Although sales have fallen sharply since a 2015 peak of nearly 560,000, with a 3.9 percent market share, Nissan remains a significant player in Europe, with a 2.2 percent market share and more than 238,000 sales in 2022. 

While de Meo acknowledged that the billions of synergies that the alliance once announced annually were a thing of the past, he and Uchida said the new projects would contribute significantly to each company's bottom line.

“The most important thing for me is that we are reactivating business operations like at the beginning of this alliance,” he said. “They might create hundreds of millions in value every year, maybe billions if everything works perfectly.”