Toyota may look to block Nissan-GM alliance

TOKYO: Top executives at Toyota Motor are considering options to head off rivals Nissan Motor and Renault from forging an alliance with General Motors, according to BusinessWeek.

Citing unnamed sources, a July 15 article on the magazine’s web site said Japan’s Toyota, the world’s most profitable car maker, is considering its options and looking at different opportunities it could propose to GM.

“Toyota has no interest in seeing an alliance like this (linking Renault, Nissan and GM) take place,” an executive, who asked not to be identified, told BusinessWeek. GM, Renault and Nissan agreed on Friday to take 90 days to review the benefits of a potential alliance, which could lead to the birth of the world’s biggest auto group with annual sales of 15m vehicles — the size of two Toyotas.

The decision followed a dinner meeting in Detroit between Wagoner and Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Renault and Nissan. A Toyota source said the company has “war-gamed” a way to assist GM, BusinessWeek said. The magazine had no further details on Toyota’s plans. It quoted Toyota spokesman Steven Curtis as saying that any talk of an offer from the company is “pure speculation.”