Nissan Boss:No Plan to Buy French People's Renault Stake

PARIS, Sept 23 Reuters reported that Nissan Motor Co has no intention of acquiring the French government's stake in its affiliate Renault SA , the Japanese automaker's chief executive said in an interview published on Monday.

"The French government's announcement to sell all or part of its participation in Renault in no way changes our position," Carlos Ghosn told business daily La Tribune. "Nissan has no vocation as a replacement for the French state in Renault."

The government, which owns about 26 percent of Renault's capital, aims to sell around 40 billion euros ($39.37 billion) of state assets to bolster its finances and make way for tax cuts it promised voters in its election campaign.

The Renault-Nissan automaking alliance has proved the most successful of recent years, largely thanks to Ghosn, who Renault sent to Japan in 1999 to turn Nissan around after acquiring a 37 percent stake in the Japanese firm.

The three year-old partnership aims at lowering buying and operating costs by developing common parts and assembly systems and helping each manufacturer expand in the other's markets.

Once Nissan returned rapidly to profit, Renault upped its Nissan stake to 44.4 percent while Nissan acquired about 15 percent of Renault as their industrial partnership deepened. Ghosn said there was no need to go beyond that level.

The decision to give Nissan a 15 percent share of Renault "was not based on financial motives, but was essentially determined by the respect of the accord signed in 1999", Ghosn said. "I don't think we need to go further."