Nissan Motor Co Ltd To Outsource Production To Renault SA Korea Unit- Reuters

Reuters reported that Nissan Motor Co will outsource production of some vehicles to Renault SA's struggling South Korean unit to meet the demand and ease the impact of the yen, the Nikkei business daily said on July 19, 2012. Japan's Nissan, which is already in an alliance with France's Renault, could transfer building of tens of thousands of sport utility vehicles and other midsize and large cars a year to Renault Samsung Motors, the paper said without citing sources. Nissan, which has struggled with insufficient production capacity, wants to take advantage of South Korea's free trade agreements with the European Union and elsewhere and could use the unit, 80% owned by Renault, as an export base, the Nikkei said. Renault's South Korean factory builds some Nissan-badged cars such as Sunny and Almera bound for markets such as Russia and the Middle East, and Renault-branded vehicles for China, Europe and other markets.