Renault/Nissan On Chrysler: No, Thanks

Carlos Ghosn

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If yesterday’s job cuts at Nissan’sTennessee plants underscored anything, it’s that the company has little time to devote to a merger with Chrysler.

That sentiment was confirmed by the Detroit Free Press yesterday, as it quoted Nissan spokespeople who said Renault/Nissan has no interest in taking Chrysler off DaimlerChrysler’s hands.

“As Mr. Ghosn has said, the company right now is as it is today because it has its own problems inside and we’re not going outside to look for the solutions,” spokesperson Madoka Soma said. “We’re not in a rush for a partner.”

Ghosn’s twin companies have shown interest in American companies joining their alliance. Last year the companies engaged General Motors in tense discussions over a potential alliance, discussions that ended in no deal and ended the short-lived interest of financier Kirk Kerkorian in GM. Kerkorian’s man Jerry York, who had joined the GM board, left the board after GM leadership decided that no alliance with Renault/Nissan would be fruitful.

Nissan reported recently that its earnings dropped 20 percent and that it would focus on boosting its profitability. Yesterday, it said it would offer buyouts to hourly workers at its Tennessee factories so that it could trim payroll.

While Chrysler leadership has not acknowledged whether the company is on the block, DaimlerChrysler has said it would close Chrysler’s Delaware assembly plant, cut a shift from two truck plants, and axe 13,000 jobs.

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