Ghosn: Renault-Nissan-GM Would Have Saved Americans

Carlos Ghosn, CEO of Renault-Nissan, said in a statement that a potential transcontinental alliance with General Motors would have saved the US-based manufacturer. The three companies were close to sign an agreement in 2006 but negotiations were canceled in October 2006.

Now, Renault-Nissan survived the crisis and continues its expansion efforts while General Motors emerged for bankruptcy and struggles to re-become one of the top players of the industry by refreshing the product lineup and concentrating development efforts on just four brands. General Motors stepped under Chapter 11 protection in June and received around $50 billion in government loans to emerge with a healthier balance.

"Without any doubt," Carlos Ghosn replied when asked whether General Motors would have survived the crisis with the help of a Renault-Nissan agreement. "We knew fundamentally that this would work, but only if it was a collaborative effort," he added according to the Detroit News.

"When General Motors was in danger, everybody was scared. We were scared. Because some of our suppliers are big suppliers of General Motors," Ghosn said. "If they go down, we would not have been able to assemble any single car in the United States."

Carlos Ghosn believes the auto sector is slowly recovering but he thinks that large companies should try to concentrate on fewer brands and less models. This way, they would retain brand identities and would invest less money.

"I think the industry is going to continue to consolidate," Ghosn said. "There's no way I think you're going to continue with the same number of players in the car industry."