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Renault-Nissan Alliance: No. 4 Automaker in 2016

The French-Japanese partnership continues its surprising rise.

May 3, 2017

The French-Japanese partnership continues its surprising rise.

1. Non-U.S. automakers came just 3,891 deliveries away in 2016 from capturing all of the top three ranks for the first time in modern history, according to Forbes.

2. That figure is what separates third-ranked GM’s total deliveries in 2015 from those of the Renault-Nissan Alliance (RNA).

3. RNA is a strategic partnership between French automaker Renault and Japanese automaker Nissan since 1999. It was formed to save both companies.

4. RNA delivered 9.96 million vehicles in 2016 – a 16.8% increase from 8.53 million in 2015.

5. That was a much larger jump than the rivals for the top three spots (VW, Toyota and GM), but it mainly reflected the company’s acquisition of scandal-tarred Mitsubishi Motors.

6. Nissan also drew headlines in March 2017 as U.S. factory workers at its Mississippi plants rallied for a labor union to be permitted there.

7. However, the company has aggressively fought unionization at its three plants in the United States, despite being unionized at the other 40 locations across the globe.

8. Europe, the US and Japan still dominate the top tier of global auto production, while the Chinese car industry is relatively fragmented.

9. As of 2015, the largest Chinese car group, with total production of 2.26 million, is SAIC Motor.

10. Many of SAIC’s figures are joint ventures counted under other European or US automakers higher up the rankings.

Sources: The Globalist Research Center, Forbes and Bertel Schmitt

Takeaways

Renault-Nissan Alliance (RNA) is a partnership between French automaker Renault and Japanese automaker Nissan.

Nissan has aggressively fought unionization at its three plants in the United States.

Europe, the US and Japan still dominate the top tier of global auto production.