Nissan eyes green tie-up with Daimler

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TOKYO: Japan’s Nissan Motor, under the control of France’s Renault, is in talks with Germany’s Daimler to procure large engines and cooperate on the development of green cars, a report said yesterday.Renault, which has a 44.3 per cent stake in Japan’s third-largest automaker, is already in partnership talks with Daimler and those discussions are likely to expand into three-way negotiations, the Nikkei business daily said.

The three sides may agree on a tie-up that could include cross-shareholdings as early as April, the report said, echoing reports about an equity deal last week in the Japanese press and by the Financial Times.

Nissan president Carlos Ghosn, who also chairs Renault, will brief Nissan executives this week on the status of Renault’s comprehensive talks with Daimler, the Nikkei said.

Nissan will consider procuring large diesel engines and V-8 gasoline engines from Daimler in order to cut its development costs, and may supply electric cars and batteries to the German firm, the paper said.

Nissan declined to comment on the report.

The Nikkei also said yesterday that Nissan aims to boost global production by more than 17 per cent to an all-time high of more than 3.69 million units in the fiscal year starting in April, thanks to robust demand in emerging economies.  — AFP