PARIS : China's Geely Automobile Holdings and an oil group are in talks about taking stakes in the fossil-fuel engine unit Renault plans to separate from its electric vehicle business, two sources close to the French carmaker said.
Renault and Geely declined to comment. Nissan did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The French carmaker is due to unveil this autumn plans for creating an EV-dedicated unit based in France and another one based abroad that will bring together all of its petrol and hybrid engine and transmissions production sites in Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Romania and Latin America.
But it will only retain a minority stake in its"Horse" combustion engine business, which will have a similar sized workforce, but would remain a reference shareholder with significant clout in the unit. That would not include Nissan, despite a proposal from Renault that it participate in the deal, the two sources added, a further indication that the strategy of the alliance partners continues to diverge.