Renault Ends Common Purchasing Agreement With Nissan, Mitsubishi

With a view to having a more agile structure that could make decisions more quickly, French automaker Renault announced on Tuesday (Sep 26) that it would terminate its common purchasing agreements with partners Nissan and Mitsubishi, Reuters reported.

According to Renault, the move is intended to better adapt to automotive markets that are regionalizing as a result of divergent regulatory frameworks, such as those governing electrification and connectivity. The purchasing department of the alliance will develop into separate organisations with a project-by-project focus, it was added.

After months of negotiations, Renault and Nissan finally agreed on the terms of a restructured alliance at the end of July.

Talks took months longer than anticipated, in part because Nissan was worried about safeguarding its intellectual property in future partnerships.

The agreement reached in July allowed both businesses to concentrate on the more urgent issue of navigating the rapidly shifting industry landscape.