Nissan, Renault looking for U.S. partner

UPDATE This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' with today's announcement.

12/20/07 Chrysler LLC and Nissan Motor Co. are considering some sort of partnership, Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn told reporters in Brazil on Wednesday.

Such cooperation — like sharing production facilities and possibly manufacturing joint vehicles — could help each company develop new vehicles and obtain volume discounts on parts.

Ghosn said "there have been talks between Nissan and Chrysler," but the meetings have been a manufacturing discussion, "not talks for an alliance accord," Bloomberg News reported .

In the past year, Ghosn has said he hopes to bring a U.S. automaker into the Nissan-Renault alliance — a pact between Japan's No. 3 automaker and France's Renault SA.

Chrysler officials declined to comment on talks of a partnership.

In an interview Wednesday with The Detroit News, Thomas Hausch, Chrysler vice president of international sales, said the Auburn Hills automaker is actively seeking several global partnerships, including one to help it develop a subcompact vehicle. He declined to speak specifically about Nissan.

"Do we think we could do well with a B-segment vehicle? Absolutely," he said. "Would we develop a B-segment by ourselves? Absolutely not." More at Detroit News