PARIS -- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles' merger offer for Renault, which was abandoned in June, was no longer on the table and looked unlikely to be revived for now, Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard said.
FCA withdrew its $35 billion offer for Renault after blaming French politics for derailing the talks. The French state, which has a 15 percent stake in Renault, had welcomed the plan but pushed for guarantees and concessions that exhausted the patience of FCA, sources said at the time.
In the months since the deal was abandoned, the two groups had looked at ways to potentially revive it, sources have told Reuters, including by reshaping the Renault-Nissan alliance and the shareholding structure.
"This matter is behind us today," Senard told a hearing in the French senate on Tuesday, echoing similar remarks by Renault's CEO Thierry Bollore earlier in September.
If the project with FCA "were to come back under conditions that are acceptable for all, I would be delighted," Senard said, adding that there is nothing currently “on the table.”
The aborted project, which would have created the world's third-biggest automaker, had caused a further headache for Renault at a time of already strained relations with its alliance partner Nissan.
The companies were rocked last year by the arrest in Japan of alliance architect Carlos Ghosn. He is now awaiting trial there on financial misconduct charges, which he denies, linked to his role as Nissan chairman.
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Senard said the Renault-Nissan alliance was "fundamental."
Renault is seeking to reshape its partnership with Nissan. The companies were near an agreement on rebalancing their cross-shareholding structure in August, the Yomiuri newspaper reported last week, without saying where it got the information.
The two-decade partnership has been under strain for years, with Nissan seeking to reduce the French automaker’s influence. Nissan owns 15 percent of Renault, with no voting rights, while Renault has 43 percent of the Japanese company with votes.
Earlier this month, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa stepped down following reports on his pay. A replacement is expected to be appointed by the end of October
Automakers are under pressure as sales falter on softening demand in markets such as China and India. They are also grappling with more stringent rules on emissions and are racing to try and produce costlier, clean auto models, adding to pressures that might make alliances or mergers desirable.
A Renault-FCA tie-up would have helped to give the alliance with Nissan a more global dimension it lacks, Senard said.
He said more consolidation in the auto sector in Europe would be needed to counter competition from China.
Bloomberg contributed to this report
