Nissan CEO Rules Out Running GM
Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of automakers Renault and Nissan Motor Co., on Thursday ruled out running General Motors Corp. in an expanded alliance that will be the focus of talks to begin today.
“I’m not going to run any other third company, and that’s not what’s at stake here,” Ghosn told business channel CNBC in an interview Thursday.
Kirk Kerkorian, GM’s largest individual shareholder, proposed the tie-up June 30. He reportedly has chafed at GM CEO Rick Wagoner’s management of the struggling automaker.
Some analysts have seen Kerkorian’s bid as raising pressure on Wagoner and trying to replace him with Ghosn, who is widely respected for his success in bringing Nissan back from the brink of insolvency.
But Ghosn ruled out such a move.
“I am saying categorically that it is out of the question that I would add on top of my two present responsibilities, which is being head of Nissan and Renault, another one,” Ghosn told CNBC.
When asked whether current partners Renault of France and Nissan of Japan would buy a stake in GM, Ghosn said: “It depends on synergies. If the synergies are great, some share holding is very important. The best way to do it is take a stake in it.
“I suspect the stake would be big,” he added, declining to disclose a specific target.
Ghosn reportedly has expressed an interest in having Renault and Nissan together buy as much as 20% of GM.
He said he first discussed a possible alliance with Kerkorian, who owns 9.9% of GM stock, June 15 at a dinner in Nashville as Nissan was breaking ground on its new North American headquarters.
“We had some exchange about the auto industry, about how the Renault-Nissan alliance is working,” Ghosn said. “I spent some time explaining what this is all about and how this alliance is run and why the alliance is getting results.”
Ghosn said he had since spoken with Wagoner on the phone.
“We are a little bit optimistic ... because we have had a successful experience. But if you are coming from an experience which was not so successful, you’d be a little more skeptical, which I understand,” Ghosn said of his interaction with Wagoner.
The two CEOs are expected to meet in Detroit today.
Ghosn said the talks, which he expected to conclude by year-end, would identify areas in which the companies could cooperate and then quantify the range of potential cost savings. He mentioned four areas for consideration: engines and transmissions, vehicle platforms, parts purchasing and research.
Ghosn also held out the possibility that Nissan could step in to run some of the excess production capacity GM is planning to shed because the Japanese company needs to add more factories in North America.
“We build a new plant or we use an existing plant -- there is no other option,” he said.
“Obviously, if there is no alliance, we build a new plant. If there is an alliance, we consider using existing capacity somewhere.”
