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Renault selling part of Nissan stake to partner for $824 million

Renault SA is selling around 5% of its stake in partner Nissan Motor Co., offloading the stock as part of a share buyback by the Japanese carmaker.  The move follows last month’s finalization of a plan for Renault to reduce its interest in Nissan. The stake sale is valued at around ˆ765 million ($824 million), but will result in a capital loss of ˆ1.5 billion, the French company said Tuesday.  Eventually, the two carmakers aim to equalize their cross-shareholdings at 15%, loosening the ties that kept them together in a carmaking alliance for two decades. The partnership between Nissan and Renault was jolted in 2018 by the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, chairman of both companies. Since then, they have drifted apart and are now charting separate paths. Given that NissanÂ’s shares are trading below the Tokyo Stock ExchangeÂ’s guideline of maintaining a price-to-book ratio above 1, the buyback will “help improve the situation,” said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Tatsuo Yoshida. The cash will bolster Chief Executive Officer Luca de MeoÂ’s efforts to get Ampere, RenaultÂ’s electric-vehicle and software arm, going as he seeks to split off the unit and list it as a separate public entity as soon as April or May. Nissan has also agreed to invest in Ampere. Renault transferred its 28.4% stake in Nissan into a trust in early November to pave the way for a reduction of its holding. Even so, there will still be lock-up and standstill obligations. De Meo said last month that Renault would begin offloading the stake “very soon” in early 2024, so TuesdayÂ’s announcement was slightly earlier than anticipated. For Nissan, the buyback is well within the value of cash and equivalents, which stood at JPY1.6 trillion ($11 billion) yen at the end of September. Nissan said it will cancel all acquired shares.  “ItÂ’s good news for the stock that Nissan will retire the equivalent of 5% of its outstanding shares,” Yoshida said.  The Japanese carmaker is paying JPY568.5 for each share, the price at the close of trading in Tokyo on Tuesday. While NissanÂ’s stock has climbed 36% this year, itÂ’s at roughly half of its value from early 2017. Earnings/Financials Nissan Renault

Nissan bringing Qashqai, Rogue hybrid to US

Nissan will be expanding its crossover range here in the United States, introducing the popular European-market Qashqai, alongside a hybridized version of the Rogue. Nissan's Kyushu, Japan factory, meanwhile, will churn out 100,000 gas-powered Rogues to capitalize on hot demand here in the United States. The Kyushu move, at least, seems like a smart one, considering just how hot the compact Rogue is. "We haven't hit the ceiling [on Rogue] yet. We have more opportunity there if we can get our dealers more," Fred Diaz, Nissan's senior VP of sales and marketing, told Automotive News. Amping up production in Kyushu will finally mean the end of the first-generation Rogue, though, now known as the Rogue Select. Somehow, we doubt many tears will be shed. AN cites "two sources familiar with Nissan's future product" in its report on the Qashqai and Rogue Hybrid, although both moves are a bit strange at first glance. Both vehicles play in the same part of the market, and are both based on the Renault-Nissan Common Module Family platform. As for the Rogue Hybrid, well, we know what happened the last time Nissan tried to add an electric motor and battery pack to one of its crossovers. Plus, we've heard this rumor before. Nissan, though, seems to think both moves make a lot of sense. While the Qashqai and Rogue are closely related, the Euro-market model is smaller – 10 inches shorter and two inches narrower – making it less versatile, and it wears more handsome sheetmetal. Expect Nissan to field it as such, aiming at buyers that want a CUV for the lifestyle, rather than the versatility, Automotive News reports. There's a lot less information on the Rogue Hybrid, aside from AN reporting that it will hit the market next year. As for potential powertrains, mum's the word. The gas-powered Rogue uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder, which is the same size as the gas-engine found in the dead-but-still-warm Pathfinder Hybrid. While we doubt it's as simple as a drag and drop, it seems like Nissan's most recent hybrid powertrain is the obvious choice for the upcoming Rogue. What do you think? Will the Qashqai be as big of a hit in the US as it is in Europe and Australia? Is a Rogue Hybrid such a smart move considering the tremendous failure of the Pathfinder Hybrid? Speak up in Comments. Related Video:

Robert Llewellyn fast-charges long-distance Leaf EV drive in UK

A British actor likely best known in his country for his role in the 1980s and 90s comedy series Red Dwarf has just made a pretty good case for driving green automobiles. Last week, Robert Llewellyn has completed an 862-mile round trip between London and Edinburgh in a Nissan Leaf and says he was able to save time by finding enough fast-charging stations the entire way, UK website Excite/Motoring says. Llewellyn, along with co-driver David Peilow, knocked out the London-to-Edinburgh leg in a single day, in part because of the British network of about 150 fast-charging stations. Llewellyn used his Twitter feed to update the general public of the two drivers' progress, noting that the first leg took about 13 hours. The round trip was completed January 26. Nissan can use all the positive publicity in can get, as UK sales of the all-electric vehicle failed to keep pace with the surging rate of demand in the US, where 2013 Leaf sales more than doubled from a year earlier to 22,610 units. In fact, in the UK, Nissan started offering incentives last month, things like free quick charging at Nissan dealerships, the ability to borrow gas-powered Nissans for free and free towing.