3 Carmakers Said to Be Close to a Technology Alliance

PARIS — In the latest sign of auto industry consolidation, three companies — Daimler, Renault and Nissan — are expected to announce an alliance as soon as Wednesday under which they would cooperate on technology and take small stakes in one another The New York Times reported. Negotiations, which began with the companies seeking ways to share development costs for Daimler’s Smart cars and Renault’s Twingo line, have been extended to include joint development of smaller engines and collaboration on light commercial vehicles, a person briefed on the matter said Tuesday. Daimler also might supply larger engines for its new partners, said the person, who asked not to be identified because a deal is contingent on the approval of the companies’ boards. The three companies issued a statement Tuesday announcing a joint news conference for Wednesday morning in Brussels, at which Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Daimler board, and Carlos Ghosn, chairman and chief executive of both Renault and Nissan, will speak. They did not disclose the topic. The French industry minister, Christian Estrosi, said at a news conference in Paris that the Daimler and Renault boards were meeting Tuesday to discuss the alliance. Mr. Estrosi said the French government, which holds 15 percent of Renault, approves of the deal, but the government must remain the company’s top shareholder and the effect on employment at the company must be “positive.” Renault, Daimler and Nissan all declined to comment. The global auto industry continues to muddle through a slump that began when the global economy went into a tailspin in 2008. Since then, General Motors has gone into and out of bankruptcy, Fiat has taken control of Chrysler and Volkswagen has teamed up with Suzuki, a Japanese small-car specialist. The German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported this week that before agreeing to the Nissan-Renault alliance, Daimler had sounded out Volkswagen, Toyota and B.M.W. The company declined to comment on the report. Nissan and Renault explored a partnership with General Motors in 2006, but the talks fell apart after G.M. demanded that the other companies pay billions of dollars to participate. G.M. argued that Renault and Nissan would have received benefits worth three or four times more than G.M. Nissan and Renault have also showed interest in allying with the Ford Motor Company, but by the time the talks with G.M. ended, Ford executives were no longer interested. Mr. Ghosn had made it clear at that time that he wanted a North American ally, though he put a search for a partner on hold and said the companies needed to focus on improving their own finances first.