Russia Backs a Renault-Nissan Stake in AvtoVAZ

Zacks.com submits: France’s Renault SA and its Japanese alliance partner Nissan Motor Co. (NSANY) have agreed with Germany’s Daimler AG (DAI) to acquire mutual equity stakes that would add the latter to the alliance.

Nissan Motor on Thursday denied a report that France's Renault SA and the Japanese automaker were considering a holding company to put the two firms and several of their interests under a single umbrella.The Japanese business daily Nikkei, citing an interview with Nissan president Carlos Ghosn, said Russia's leading auto maker AvtoVaz, which is 25 percent owned by Renault, would be incorporated in the proposed company.Romania's Dacia and South Korea's Renault Samsung Motors -- both subsidiaries of the French auto maker -- would also be included, it said.

Renault and its Japanese subsidiary Nissan announced a big step in the Russian market on Thursday, heading for control of the Lada brand to become the third-biggest auto force in the world.The move by Renault Nissan to control Russian auto group Avtovaz, costing 750 million dollars, highlights the importance of the Russian market, the third biggest for the three manufacturers, after China and the United States.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday offered auto alliance Renault-Nissan a chance to buy a controlling stake in Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ, Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn said, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported."The prime minister said he is not against increasing Renault-Nissan's stake in AvtoVAZ, and it could be increased up to 50 percent," Ghosn was quoted as saying after a meeting with Putin in comments translated into Russian.

The French security services have launched an investigation into allegations of industrial espionage at the giant French car maker Renault The company suspended three managers earlier this week, and today the Paris newspaper Le Figaro said the executives had provided company secrets to China. Renault, together with its Japanese partner Nissan, has been at the forefront of research into electric vehicles and battery technology in recent years. It's believed the information leak was related to that research. Eleanor Beardsley