Fiat Chrysler is proposing a merger with French carmaker Renault aimed at saving billions of dollars for both companies. The merged company would reshape the global industry: it would produce some 8.7 million vehicles a year, leapfrogging General Motors and trailing only Volkswagen and Toyota.
Barely three months into his tenure, Renault SA Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard plans to propose merging the French carmaker with alliance partner Nissan Motor Co.under a holding-company framework, according to people familiar with the matter. Each company would own about a 50 percent stake in the holding company and have equal board representation.
Renault aims to restart merger talks with Nissan within 12 months and then acquire another carmaker, with Fiat Chrysler among the preferred targets, according to several people familiar with the French group’s plans.
Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. are in talks to merge, seeking to solidify their two-decade-old alliance under a single stock as an unprecedented shift toward electric and shared cars transforms the industry, people with knowledge of the matter say.
