Renault’s alliance with Nissan remains French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire’s priority ahead of any further consolidation with companies, including Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles, he said on Tuesday.
“It is not in our interest at all to weaken this alliance,” Le Maire told Europe 1 radio. The French government is Renault’s biggest shareholder with a 15 per cent stake.
Asked to comment on reports that FCA CEO Mike Manley had been in Paris over the weekend, Le Maire replied: “It poses me no problems at all if the head of Fiat were to spend his time in Paris.”
Italy’s, Il Sole 24 Ore reported that Manley may have met with Renault executives in Paris on Thursday and Friday to begin new talks, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.
An FCA spokesman declined to comment.
The CEO was carrying documents explaining the merger terms that could be useful for Renault during Nissan’s annual meeting on June 25, another Italian paper, Il Corriere Della Sera, said.
FCA Chairman John Elkann is leaving the attempt to restart the talks to Manley, Il Corriere Della Sera said.
