GM, Renault, Nissan Plan 90-day Study of Tie-up

By Reuters Posted 15 July 2006 @ 02:55 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Motors Corp., Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. on Friday said they had agreed to work together on a confidential review of the benefits of a potential alliance between the automakers.

The review will take about 90 days, after which the companies will decide whether the alliance concept needs to be explored further, the companies said.

GM CEO Rick Wagoner and Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn met in Detroit on Friday to explore a tie-up that could change the face of the global auto industry.

The high-profile meeting came two weeks after GM's largest individual shareholder, billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, went public with his surprise bid to broker a sweeping alliance that would see Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. take a substantial stake in GM.

"We had a good discussion today, and are looking forward to having our teams work together to explore our ideas," Wagoner and Ghosn said in a statement.

"It is important to let our teams work on this review without distraction and, therefore, we will not be providing further public comments about it at this time."