A few days ago, we had written about GM’s attempt to gain ground in Russia by taking a stake in the largest Russian automaker, AutoVAZ. Renault/Nissan has beaten GM to the punch and gathered stake in the company that owns the Lada brand. AutoVAZ was looking for a foreign partner to help it with product development. Renault has picked up a 25% stake in the company but the terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Russia is a fast growing market and sales are soaring high. The deal also strengthens the goal of Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault/Nissan in creating a broad global alliance that can compete effectively against Toyota. Under the deal, Renault and Russian Technologies, the state run holding that controls AutoVAZ, will setup a joint venture that will have a 50% stake each for Renault and AutoVAZ.
[Via: TheCarConnection]
