Nissan and Renault's relationship

[Sahandman]

Heres the scoop on nissan and renault. Nissan a couple of years ago was having financial problems, and renault came in and purchased 50 percent of nissan, which makes renault half owner of nissan. last summer i spent 2 months in paris france which is loaded with renaults, they have a model there called the renault cleo and the renault megante that honestly looks almost identicle to the versa, the platform B is also the same. Renault however only does styling on the versa mostly because tehy are the champions of making small affordable cars with european styling. Nissan benefits alot from the experience renault has selling tiny, roomy decent europeanlooking cars and has used renault to style the versa. While in paris i rented the renault megante, very similar to the versa and it was an excellent car with amazing fuel efficiency. So dont be worried if nissan and renault have joined forces, its a good thing.

[MinisterofDOOM]

The Micra and Clio are basically twins. All four of them, in addition to the Tiida/Latio and Cube use the same small Nissan B platform. How similar did the Megane feel to the Versa? They don't appear to have much in common beyond the platform they use, but neither do the Micra and Clio...

Renault actually didn't buy 50%, but they did buy a good amount of Nissan shares. Nissan also bought a portion of Renault shares to cement the partnership. Renault has really fallen into the background as far as the partnership is concerned, due to the fact that Nissan is a much more prominent company and has a stronger worldwide presence. Nissan's financial problems actually began back in the mid-90s. In 1999 the partnership was pursued.

I did a fairly comprehensive presentation of the Nissan Renault Strategic Alliance about 6 months back for one of my University classes. If I can dig up my notes I'll post up some of the more interesting details.

[Sahandman]

cool dude im glad you know all of this. I just wanted to know, is it a bad thing that renault helps nissan? cause i think renaults are pretty decent vehicles, i mean there are tons in europe and they last a long time and perform really efficiently, ,,, in essence i wouldnt mind if renault used some of its skills with nissan. The megane's interior size i think was very similar to the versa's, atleast from what i know and i remember we use to carpool 5 of us to and from work with decent comfort.

[Kermee]

I want Renault badges for my Versa

Cheers,Kermee

[Sahandman]

btw, whats the story of this brazilian guy who bought nissan? how much of nissan is still japanese, and how much of it is french, brazilian or mexican (manufacturing). What aspects of nissan vehicles today are genuine japanese craftsmanship and how much of it is foreign or non-japanese made? I mean the styling is french, the manufacturing is mexican, atleast for the versa, the owner is brazilian, so where does japan stand in all of this?

[MinisterofDOOM]

For a company to be Japanese, German, American, or any other nationality doesn't really mean the same thing it used to. Japanese cars are no longer always built in Japan and exported--all major Japanese manufacturers have at least one North American manufacturing plant. But just because a car is built in the US doesn't mean it's not Japanese. The current Maxima, for instance, is not available outside North America, and is manufactured here. Even in the early 90s, Nissans were being produced in the Smyrna, Tennessee plant (my Maxima was built there--and that available in europe and Australia as well). Currently, most of the products available on the North American market are manufactured here in the United States. So is a Japanese designed car that is built in the US still "Japanese"? I guess that's the question. Nissan is still a Japanese company in philosophy--they parallel Toyota in a lot of ways (but are thankfully a much more exciting company).

Ghosn himself doesn't own Nissan: He was vice president at Renault in 1999 when the French company bought a portion of shares in Nissan and began the first phases of the Nissan Renault Strategic Alliance. Renault gave Ghosn total control of Nissan.

Renault and Ghosn's effect on Nissan is definitely apparent: the company has made some big direction changes, turning from a company best known for loyalist repeat buyers and enthusiast customers to much more of an "everyman" company with a much broader appeal. The company still has many loyal repeat customers, and still makes some very enthusiast focused cars (Z, Maxima, the SE-R lineup, the upcoming GTR, Foria, and GT-S lineup etc...) but they've also attained a kind of universal endearment that makes the likes of Toyota and BMW so successful.

[manfrotto]

I am picking up my Versa tomorrow after work. I ordered Black with charcoal interior Automatic, VOP upgrade here in Canada. Excited about it. Just wanted to tell Sahandman and all others in this awesome forum that there is a book called SHIFT: Inside Nissan's Historic Revival by Carlos Ghosn printed in 2006 ISBN# 0385512910 in case you were interested. Keep up the great Forum everyone.

Robin

[MinisterofDOOM]

Glad you found us, Robin! Great suggestion regarding the book, too.

Actually, because of this thread, I went out and bought that book, as well as another book about the same thing. Ghosn's book is excellent. It gives a completely different perspective of the corporate automotive world. I liked Ghosn when he first saved Nissan, but then the product line started taking a turn I didn't like (like the new Maxima loosing it's manual transmission option, and the Altima getting a more powerful engine than the Maxima--basically a move of the Maxima from "4DSC" status to "I wish I was an Avalon" status). The book really made me reconsider my opinion of the guy. I have a lot of respect for him. From his book, he seems like someone who's easy to talk to and not some self-important snob businessman like I'm sure most people imagine.

[motoguy128]

I drove a Renault Magante when I was in Northern France. I drove it on a good mix of freeway and city streets. It felt very smilar isnt dimensions to the Versa. The one I drove however had a 5 speed manual, and probably a 1.5L or 1.6L gasoline motor. It was much slower and buzzier on the freeway than this car but still got up to 180kph+ with enough room when in TGermany. However, since all the other cars on the road are underpowered, you don't notice a sub 110HP car so much. The Merceds 180 E-Class Coupe I drove with a small turbo diesel was a rocket compared to everyone else on the road, but it still wasn't any faster than a 4 cylinder Honda Accord.

I'd say that for the US market, Nissan did a good job by bringing the compact but larger 1.8L motor, adding some additional sound proofing and offirng a lot of standard features.

Many of my French Colleagues I work with on occasion have Clio's. It seems to be the French generic car.

Overall I like the fact tha the Versa, like a good European small car is very compact in it's external dimensions, yet very spacious inside, including headroom. They are very effecient and practicle, while still having good handling forf the typical twisty backroads.

[OKVersa]

I was showing a friend of ours our new Versa when suddenly, he said, "You know, I used to drive a Renault." I said, "But this is a Nissan. " He said, "I don't know why, but it made me think of my Renault."

This was before I new there was any connection.