Renault and Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn is set to meet his General Motors Corp counterpart Rick Wagoner later this month in Detroit, the Financial Times newspaper said on Wednesday.
The paper added that GM's chief financial officer, Fritz Henderson, was leading a project to examine the existing Renault-Nissan alliance to assess the potential benefits for GM if it joined. A spokeswoman for Renault had no comment on the report.
The Nihon Keizai business daily said Nissan Motor Co and Renault SA were looking at three main areas of potential co-operation with GM - parts procurement, and environmental and safety technology. The Nihon Keizai said Nissan and Renault would form a team to discuss specific tie-up plans if the US automaker's board gave the green light for partnership talks to proceed.
GM's board is due to meet on Friday, and a spokeswoman for the company said on Tuesday the alliance was sure to be among the topics. A Nissan spokeswoman said the Japanese auto maker had not made any announcement since Monday and the Nihon Keizai report was speculation. Nissan and Renault have said they are prepared to start talks with the world's largest automaker about forming an alliance that could create the world's largest auto group.
GM's highest-profile shareholder, billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, has proposed that GM management immediately begin exploring a potential alliance. The Nihon Keizai said Nissan and Renault are looking at the possibility of GM joining a parts-purchasing venture they have called Renault Nissan Purchasing Organisation. Co-operation in environmental and safety technologies would also help the three auto makers cut huge research and development costs, it said.
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