Mahindra may pull out of venture with Renault & Nissan

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd may pull out of a joint venture with Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co to build a 40-billion-rupee manufacturing plant in India, media reports said. The Business Standard newspaper quoted agency reports as saying that Mahindra was unhappy with both Renault and Nissan entering ventures with other partners in India.

Renault has tied up with Indian two-wheeler maker Bajaj Auto to build a low-cost car, while Nissan has signed three other joint ventures with Ashok Leyland.

However, The Economic Times quoted unnamed sources saying that Mahindra may exit the alliance due to lack of sufficient synergies. "We would not like to comment on these speculative reports," Mahindra said in a statement, adding, "M&M has no objections to Renault and Nissan having multiple alliances as long as they do not conflict with the existing Mahindra-Renault JV." Yahoo.com