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Nissan shares slide 5% after report Renault exploring stake reduction

TOKYO — Shares of Nissan Motor Co slumped 5% on Monday, their biggest fall in more than a month, following a report that top shareholder Renault may consider lowering its stake in the Japanese automaker. Bloomberg reported on Friday that Renault may consider lowering its Nissan shareholding as part of plans to separate its electric vehicle business. The French car maker has been pushing ahead with plans to split its electric and combustion-engine businesses in an attempt to catch rivals such as Tesla and Volkswagen On Friday, Renault said all options were on the table for separating the electric vehicle business, including a possible public listing in the second half of 2023. Any plans would be subject to approval from alliance partner Nissan, Renault finance chief Thierry Pieton said, adding the Japanese automaker was "in the loop" as Renault weighed up its options. Renault and Nissan have declined to comment on the report. Shares of Nissan fell to 509.8 yen in Tokyo, marking their biggest one-day decline since early March and underperforming an almost 2% drop in the Nikkei index. The car makers' two-decade-old alliance, which includes Mitsubishi Motors, was rocked by the 2018 ouster of alliance founder Carlos Ghosn amid a financial scandal. They have since pledged to pool more resources. In January they said they would work more closely together to make electric cars. They detailed a $26 billion investment plan for the next five years. But their unequal relationship has long been a source of friction in Japan. Renault owns 43.4% of Nissan, which in turn has a 15% non-voting stake in its shareholder. Renault bailed out Nissan two decades ago, but is now the smaller automaker by sales. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Earnings/Financials Green Mitsubishi Nissan Renault

Mercedes pickup could have Nissan DNA

Daimler and the Renault-Nissan Alliance are already close partners. Now it seems that the upcoming Mercedes-Benz midsize pickup might have a little Nissan DNA in it, too. Or maybe not, depending on how you interpret comments by Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn. "I don't want anybody to think that because they announced a pickup truck, they have to make it with us. Not at all," Ghosn said at the New York Auto Show, according to Automotive News. "They are completely free to do it by themselves, to do it with somebody else, etc., and also, or to do it with us." The Mercedes Vans division is responsible for the truck's development, and the pickup is aimed at the popular global midsize segment against vehicles like the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux. There's no mention of any plans for the model in North America. Instead, Mercedes wants to focus on Latin America, South Africa, Australia and Europe for a launch slated before 2020. Ghosn was quite clear there was no decision either way as of yet. "Is this something that can eventually be on the table? I told you, everything is on the table between us," he said, according to Automotive News. If the two companies do decide to collaborate on a midsize truck, the timing would seem perfect. Nissan completed development of its NP300 Navara in 2014, and the automaker has been at work at least evaluating powertrains for the next Frontier possibly for 2019. Related Video:

Nissan could offer plug-in hybrids by 2016

Nissan is recharging the idea of a production plug-in hybrid model. The Japanese automaker may start making a plug-in hybrid by as soon as late 2015, with deliveries to start in time for the 2016 model year, Green Car Reports says, citing an interview with company executive Andy Palmer. Those comments go against what Nissan said during the North American Auto Show in January. Palmer didn't specify what class of vehicle the plug-in hybrid would be, but he said battery-electric vehicles are best suited for cars 3,850 pounds or lighter, according to Green Car Reports. That would imply that the plug-in hybrid powertrain may be used for a mid-sized sedan or a crossover vehicle. Either way, a Nissan PHEV may pair the Nissan Leaf's 108-horsepower electric motor with a gas engine. Whether Palmer's projected timeframe was more of a ballpark estimate is anyone's guess, as the company hasn't made official plans for a 2016 model-year plug-in hybrid, Nissan spokesman Tim Gallagher wrote in an e-mail to AutoblogGreen. Either way, feel free to join us in the comments below. Nissan is coming off its best-ever sale month for the Leaf, which has moved about 115,000 units around the world. Domestic sales of the Leaf in May rose 46 percent from a year earlier to a monthly record 3,117 vehicles. Through the first five months of the year, Leaf sales increased 36 percent, to 10,389 units.