The confirmation of Dominique Senard as president of Renault, despite the open criticisms expressed by the top manager of the car manufacturer in last Wednesday's shareholders' meeting of the public shareholder represented by the French government, is the first sign that the marriage plan with FCA will not he died but could rise again in a short time.. The restart tests have already begun, even if after the initial shipwreck, prudence is a must.
Senard has never made a secret of considering the merger with FCA the best possible project – and President Emmanuel Macron was also initially of this opinion – but to relaunch the wedding, the ground must be cleared of misunderstandings and perplexities. The CEO of FCA, Mike Manley, has also been working on this in recent days, and has never interrupted his dialogue with Senard. Now, however, the French need to be able to obtain the go-ahead from the Japanese, even if only FCA and Renault would be involved in the first phase of the marriage-encore project.
The news that emerges from the confidential talks between the French and FCA are mainly three. The first is a reduction in the shareholding of the French state, currently at 15%, in Renault's capital to symbolize the willingness of the public shareholder to leave more room for maneuver and greater autonomy to Renault's managers. Of course, the issue of governance and the headquarters of the FCA-Renault group, which the French originally asked for in Paris, are not secondary.
At the same time, the participation of the eventual FCA-Renault pole in the Japanese Nissan – and this is the second crucial point – could go down to 24 percent – according to what Il Sole 43 Ore wrote.
But there is a third unknown hanging over the negotiations between FCA and Renault and between the French and the Japanese: will the CEO of Nissan, Hiroko Saikawa, who appeared to be one of the most available and open in relations with Renault, will he be able to stay in the saddle? It will be known at the Nissan assembly on 25 June, which promises to be decisive for any future discussion. Perhaps it is in this key that Senard's threats to Nissan to reject the Japanese governance reform project should be read, but what is certain is that, to remain at the helm of the Japanese company, Saikawa needs the consent of over half of the shareholders gathered in assembly.
In short, the FCA-Renault wedding passes through Paris but, right now, they pass mainly through Japan.
