Renault has announced plans to sell their entire 1.54% stake in Daimler.
The proceeds from the sale of 16,448,378 shares will be used to help Renault “accelerate the financial deleveraging of its automotive activity.”
That’s pretty vague, but Renault said their partnership with Daimler remains unchanged and is not impacted by the financial transaction. Of course, it’s worth noting the partnership has seen its ups and downs.
Also Read: Renault Boss Keen On Rekindling Partnership With Daimler
As a refresher, the Mercedes X-Class has already been axed and the Smart ForFour hasn’t exactly been a hit. Furthermore, Infiniti dropped Mercedes-sourced engines and killed its entry-level QX30 crossover which was essentially a badge-engineered Mercedes GLA. Given those and other disappointments, there had been speculation that the two companies were looking to break up.
However, they continue working together as the upcoming Mercedes Citan and T-Class were developed in cooperation with the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance and will effectively be restyled versions of the Renault Kangoo. Executives from both sides have also talked about rekindling and expanding the partnership.
Last year, Daimler CEO Ola Källenius said “We are open for new projects as long as everyone profits from it.” He went to say the upcoming Citan EV is a “concrete” example of how beneficial the tie-up can be.
