strategic partnership industry automotive founded 27 march 1999 founders louis schweitzer yoshikazu hanawa headquarters amsterdam netherlands 1 key people carlos ghosn chairman and ceo products cars and trucks website renault nissan alliance renault nissan alliance is a franco japanese strategic partnership between automobile manufacturers renault based in paris france and nissan based in yokohama japan which together sell more than one in 10 cars worldwide . 2 the companies which have been strategic partners since 1999 have nearly 450 000 employees and control nine major brands nissan renault infiniti renault samsung motors dacia datsun venucia lada 3 and mitsubishi motors . 4 the car group sold 8.3 million cars worldwide in 2013 behind toyota general motors and volkswagen for total volume . 5 the alliance is the world s leading plug in electric vehicle manufacturer with global sales since 2010 of more than 350 000 all electric vehicles by the end of august 2016 . 6 the top selling vehicle of the alliance ev line up is the nissan leaf all electric car . the leaf is the world s top selling highway capable plug in electric car in history . more than 230 000 leafs have been sold worldwide through july 2016 . 7 the strategic partnership between renault and nissan is not a merger or an acquisition . the two companies are joined together through a cross shareholding agreement . the structure was unique in the auto industry during the 1990s consolidation trend and later served as a model for general motors and psa peugeot citro n 8 psa peugeot citro n and mitsubishi as well as volkswagen and suzuki 9 though the latter combination failed . 10 the alliance itself has broadened its scope substantially forming additional partnerships with automakers including germany s daimler china s dongfeng motor and russia s avtovaz . 9 contents 1 corporate structure and strategy 2 history 3 global sales 4 projects 4.1 zero emission vehicles 4.2 daimler strategic cooperation 4.3 usa 4.4 brazil 4.5 russia 4.6 india 4.7 china 4.8 korea 4.9 morocco 5 references corporate structure and strategy edit the alliance is a strategic partnership based on the rationale that due to substantial cross shareholding investments each company acts in the financial interest of the other while maintaining individual brand identities and independent corporate cultures . renault currently has a 43.4 percent fully voting stake in nissan and nissan holds a 15 percent non voting stake in renault effectively giving renault control . although more companies have adopted such an arrangement it remains controversial . some business journalists have speculated that the companies should be joined in a conventional merger in order to make a bold move 11 while other interested parties have said that the companies should separate . 12 carlos ghosn is the chairman and ceo of the alliance . ghosn is a brazilian lebanese french businessman who is also chairman and ceo of nissan motors and holds the same positions at renault . 13 ghosn has compared the renault nissan partnership to a marriage a couple does not assume a converged single identity when they get married . instead they retain their own individuality and join to build a life together united by shared interests and goals each bringing something different to the union . in business regardless of the industry the most successful and enduring partnerships are those created with a respect for identity as the constant guiding principle . 14 ghosn has consistently advocated 15 an evolutionary approach that results in increasing integration and synergies for partners within the alliance . 16 you have to be careful that at the end of the day by trying to do more in the short term you don t end up destroying what had been delivering so much result on the mid term and long term ghosn was quoted as saying in march 2011 reuters special report in which he said conventional top down acquisitions in the auto industry in the past decade have failed . 17 it is not validated by any example in the car industry that this works . not one example . and saying something different is just rubbish . the goal of the alliance is to increase economies of scale for both renault and nissan without forcing one company s identity to be consumed by the other s. the alliance achieves scale and speeds time to market by jointly developing engines batteries and other key components . 18 for instance nissan s market share increases in europe s competitive light commercial vehicle segment have been partly a result of badging various renault van models such as the renault kangoo nissan kubistar renault master nissan interstar renault trafic nissan primastar . 19 in addition renault builds nearly all of the diesel engines in nissan cars sold in europe . nissan uses these engines to accelerate sales throughout europe where it has already become the number one asian brand in many key markets . 20 collaboration between renault and nissan also focuses on capital intensive research projects such as sustainable zero emission transportation 21 and development of automobile manufacturing in emerging markets such as brazil russia and india . 22 the alliance also oversees purchasing for both companies ensuring larger volume and thus better pricing with suppliers . 23 renault and nissan have also consolidated logistics operations under the alliance to reduce costs . the companies claim that they generate more than 200 million per year by sharing warehouses containers shipping crates seagoing vessels and customs related processing . 24 in total the alliance reported more than 1.5 billion in synergies in 2010 . 25 the alliance develops best practices borrowing systems and controls from one company to strengthen the other company where appropriate . the nissan production way became the cornerstone of the syst me de production renault standard used by all renault factories . renault reported productivity increasing by 15 percent due to the new system . 26 history edit the renault nissan alliance began 27 march 1999 . at the time the auto industry was in a period of rapid consolidation . numerous companies merged or were acquired in high profile deals most notably daimler s acquisition of chrysler in 1998 which dissolved in 2007 when the companies separated 27 . at the time it was created renault bought 36.8 percent of nissan s outstanding stock and nissan vowed to buy into renault when it was financially able . in 2001 after the company s turnaround from near bankruptcy nissan bought a 15 percent stake in renault which in turn increased its stake in nissan to 44.4 percent . 28 in 2002 the alliance created the renault nissan bv rnbv a strategic management company to oversee areas such as corporate governance between the two companies . based in amsterdam it is owned 50 50 by renault and nissan and provides a neutral location for the alliance to exchange ideas build strategy and help leverage the maximum synergies between the two companies . 29 in 2006 the alliance began exploratory talks with general motors regarding the possibility of creating an industrial alliance . 30 the talks were instigated by gm minority shareholder kirk kerkorian . gm reportedly demanded payment of several billion dollars to engage in an alliance prompting ghosn to call the terms contrary to the spirit of an alliance . discussions ended without agreement in october 2006 when ghosn said it s clear the two sides have completely different appetites for an alliance . 31 since 2010 the alliance has undertaken a number of projects as part of a strategic cooperation deal the german daimler ag company . in 2014 renault and nissan combined various research and development manufacturing and business operations to increase money savings integrate the two companies and accelerate development . 32 global sales edit this section needs to be updated . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . september 2016 taken together the renault nissan alliance sold one in ten cars worldwide in 2013 ranking as world s fourth largest automaker with 2013 sales of 8 266 098 units . 33 in 2014 the renault nissan alliance passed 8.5 million vehicles sold worldwide an increase of 2.5 % compared to 2013 . 34 alliance 2013 sales 35 36 renault 2 628 208 nissan 5 102 979 avtovaz 534 911 total 8 266 098 projects edit zero emission vehicles edit carlos ghosn charges a nissan leaf one of six zero emission vehicles developed by the renault nissan alliance as of december 2015 update . the alliance committed 4 billion around us 5.2 billion into its electric vehicle and battery development programs with the aim to become the leader in zero emission transportation . carlos ghosn chairman and ceo of the renault nissan alliance predicted that by 2020 one in 10 new car sales will be an electric vehicle . 37 38 the first electric car based on this investment was the nissan leaf launched in december 2010 in the united states and japan . between 2011 and 2013 renault launched four battery electric vehicles bevs the renault kangoo z.e. utility van renault fluence z.e. renault zoe and the renault twizy urban quadricycle . 39 nissan s second all electric vehicle the nissan e nv200 was released in europe in june 2014 followed by japan in october 2014 . nissan plans to launch two additional battery electric vehicles by march 2017 . 40 initially carlos ghosn predicted the two companies would sell a combined 1.5 million electric cars as early as 2016 . as sales were slower than expected in 2013 the alliance revised its sales target to 1.5 million electric vehicles by 2020 . 41 42 renault nissan alliance zero emission vehicles milestones date milestone dec 2010 nissan leaf launched in the u.s. and japan . 43 oct 2011 renault kangoo z.e. utility van is released in europe . 44 2011 nissan leaf surpassed the mitsubishi i miev as the best selling all electric car in history . 45 dec 2012 renault zoe released in france . 46 feb 2013 nissan leaf global sales reached 50 000 units . 47 jul 2013 global ev alliance sales reached 100 000 units . 48 sep 2013 global sales of the kangoo z.e. passed 10 000 units . 49 jan 2014 nissan leaf global sales reached 100 000 units . 50 jun 2014 nissan e nv200 utility van is released in europe . 40 oct 2014 global ev alliance sales passed 200 000 units . 51 nov 2014 nissan leaf global sales reached 150 000 units . 52 apr 2015 global sales of the renault twizy reached 15 000 units . 53 may 2015 global sales of the renault zoe passed 25 000 units . 54 jun 2015 global ev alliance sales reached 250 000 units . 43 dec 2015 nissan leaf global sales passed 200 000 units . 55 56 dec 2015 alliance global ev sales passed 300 000 units . 57 jun 2016 global sales of the renault zoe passed 50 000 units . 58 aug 2016 alliance global ev sales reached 350 000 units . 6 sep 2016 renault ev global sales passed 100 000 units . 59 sep 2016 nissan global ev sales totaled over 250 000 units . 6 in may 2008 as part of the alliance s zero emission strategy nissan and nec formed a joint venture company automotive energy supply corporation aesc to focus on the development and mass production of advanced lithium ion batteries for a wide range of automotive applications from hybrids electric vehicles to fuel cell vehicles . aesc began production in 2009 at its facility at nissan s zama plant in kanagawa prefecture where annual capacity is 65 000 units . 60 globally alliance battery production capacity is expected to be 500 000 units a year by the end of 2013 . other alliance battery production sites announced in 2009 include france portugal the