Nissan is not French. They own a part of Renault and Renault owns a part of them (essentially they own minority shares of each other for the purpose of sharing some ideas, kind of a smaller scale version of how Ford owns a portion of Mazda but not all of it).

However, I agree that Nissan's quality control hasn't been nearly as good in the last 5 years as it was in the 10 years or so before that, BUT,

 

Nissan is still better than the big 3 and nissan is the worst of the *** Big 3.

Also 80s american cars were junk compared with 80s *** cars...any car 20 years old if its had just one bad owner can screw it up...but my grandpa had a 83 el camino compared with my high school buddies 85 nissan the el camino was a pile....

 

Renault owns 44% of Nissan (controlling interest), whereas Nissan owns only 15% of Renault. That is why a frenchman was sent to run Nissan and not the other way around. Additionally there is only one chief executive for the "Renault-Nissan Alliance."

 

Carlos Ghosn isn't a Frenchman. He's Lebanese.

 

A 'Frenchman' does not run Nissan, and:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll...511250411/1148

 

Ok...I can't quite let that swipe at Nissan go without mentioning a couple of things.

Ownership:
In 1999 Renault paid $5.4 billion for a controlling stake in Nissan (a 44% share and Nissan owns 50% of Renault). I would submit that to say Nissan today is either Japanese or French is too narrow of a statement especially since the CEO is a Brazilian-born Lebanese citizen

Quality:
From an earlier post of mine…
-----------------------------------------------------
Yes…Nissan has had some “quality” issues and they’ve addressed/are addressing them. They aren’t perfect and I don’t believe I’ve heard anyone say they or any other manufacturer is. However, the issues you are referring to are based on surveys done within the first 6, 12, and 18 months after Nissan built an entirely new plant in Mississippi (launching five new vehicles there) and re-designed about 80% of its factory in Tennessee launching five new models there as well; two of which had never been built in the US before and all of that happened in a three year period.

Do you have any concept of what the equivalent change at GM would be…do you think they might have a few issues to resolve??? Perhaps GM and Ford’s biggest problem is that they wouldn’t have the guts to try it or even know how to make it happen if they did want to try it.
-----------------------------------------------------

Personal Experience:

The leather seats of my 2000 Z28 (which I purchased new) began to crack within the fist year I had it. Now…I’m not a small guy and I do put a lot of wear and tear on the seat but I’ve never had that happen in any other car I’ve ever owned and I’ve owned several with leather interiors.

By the time the car was two years old, the carpet on the driver's side had worn through to the floor-board (that's never happened to me before in even the cheapest econo-box I've ever owned).

The driver’s side door panel became permanently “dented’ at the point I used to rest my elbow when driving.

The carpet covered cardboard around the back seats never quite “fit” right and would always come out from under the plastic pieces designed to form the boundry between the rear seats, carpet and the body of the car. Finally, let’s not forget the “hump”.

Now…I loved my Z28 but frankly, it had its problems when it came to the interior.

So...I’m not sure I’d start throwing stones at Nissan lest someone throw them back!

 

You really don't know much unless its Ford related do you? I'm not quite sure why you keep posting incorrect information like this.

 

 

You guys are correct, Ghosn was merely the son of Lebanese parents born in Brazil but educated in France, and is in fact a french citizen. I'd say he is more French than Japanese. But even if you do not want to concede that point, he was the number 2 man at Renault when he was sent to save Nissan.

For whatever reason, the Renault webpage regarding their alliance does not say that Nissan increased it's stake from more than 15%

http://www.renault.com/renault_com/e...10_Fondements/

 

He is still also a Lebanese citizen and was even considerd as a possible presidential cantidate in Lebanon a couple of years ago according to a Businessweek article.

Yes, he was the No. 2 man at Renault when he was sent to Nisan as CEO; now he is CEO of both Renault and Nissan.

I think you are correct, however, in 2002 Nissan took a 15% share of Renault

 

Well thats a nice generalization, now isn't it. I know some about quite a few things.......... alot about some things............ and not much about most things. Pretty much like everyone else.

Fine, let me elaborate. Renault holds a controlling stake of Nissan, to the tune of 44%. Renault is a french company. When Renault rescued Nissan, in 1999, Nissan was on the verge of bankruptcy.

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/...1918_db053.htm

Now maybe its just me, but most people consider that Ford owns Mazda, yet they only hold a controlling stake, at 33%. Thus, when I said that Nissan was a French company, it is because they are majority owned by a French company. I would have thought that you could figure that out.

If Nissan currently owns 15% or 50% of Renault, than this is probably a byproduct of how much Nissan is currently worth, vs what they were worth in 1999 (not much).

I have a hard time understanding how someone can truly think that Nissans have nice interiors. The Altimas interior is on par with a Cobalt. The Maximas is not close to an Accords. The Infinitis are decent......... and they should be, based on their price point.

Boy, I guess I really opened a can of worms by not bowing down to the Nissan alter.

PS, GM and Ford are my primary points of interest. However, I do read about pretty much all manufacturers, and test drive many cars to get a hands on experience. I have never claimed to be all knowing, and if you don't like what I write, don't read it. BTW, Nissan's recent quality, as confirmed by Threxx, has not been the greatest. They used to be very high quality vehicles, and I used to like them alot. I like the way the Altima looks (exterior) and love the engine. The car sucks (torque steer and light steering). I used to love the 240/260/280Z and liked the 300ZX twin turbo......... but just have not warmed to the 350Z. I do like the G35's, and find them to be one of the most attractive near luxury cars on the road.

 

Later...

Sorry but your previous statement was that of a very definite nature; you weren't leaving out any details, you flat out said Nissan is not Japanese, they are French. Period.

That's far from Renault owning a minority (not sure why you keep saying majority) share of Nissan and Nissan in turn owns a 15 or 50% (depending on your source, I guess) share of Renault.

Nice attempt at back pedaling, though.

 

To be truly precise, at 44%, Renault owns a controlling share of Nissan which is why Renault had the authority to send Carlos Ghosn to take over as CEO.

 

At first I was being simplistic, and got slammed for it. Thus, I had to elaborate. No backpedaling involved.

Nissan did not own any of Renault, when Renault took a controlling interest of Nissan (in 1999). What they have done since then, I don't really know, and there appears to be quite a bit of conflicting reports. Thus, it doesn't look like anyone else knows either. In 1999, Nissan was in no shape to buy an interest in anything........... much less themselves.

I will repeat. People consider that Ford owns Mazda, and yet they only own a controlling interest, at 33%. Thus, by that same example, one could say that Renault owns Nissan.

I'm sorry if you didn't like the way I worded things. That sounds like your problem, not mine. Or, are you a Nissan worshipper also????

BTW, Ghosn has a very similar way of operating an automotive business.......... to Jac Nasser.

 

I don't think you will find any sources saying Nissan owns more than 15% of Renault except that one crappy article that came from who knows where. The best shareholder info is always found at the corporate site. For example, when people come on here spouting off that Porsche is owned by Audi-VW, a quick link to the Porsche corporate site can dismiss that myth.