For an executive who runs two giant carmakers, in France and Japan, and is trying to extend his influence over a third -- General Motors in America -- this dreary suburb of Paris is as close as Carlos Ghosn gets to having home turf.
And yet here at the headquarters of Renault, Ghosn, the man who is one of the world's most celebrated auto executives, anointed by some as the industry's savior, seemed oddly on the defensive.
Despite his gilded reputation, Ghosn's companies, Renault and its partner, Nissan Motor, are not performing well right now -- a fact their boss readily acknowledges.
"I think Nissan is still far from its potential," Ghosn said this week, in one of his few interviews since meeting with GM's chief executive, Rick Wagoner, after his audacious overture to GM this summer. "This year has been very frustrating so far."
As for Renault, Ghosn said, "We're working hard, but we'll see practically no results" until next summer, when a raft of new models he ordered begins to roll out. With its European rivals racing ahead of it, Ghosn predicted a "harsh period" for the French carmaker.
An agreement with GM will hinge on more than the shifting fortunes of Renault and Nissan. Ghosn's rationale for expanding the alliance is that it could generate huge synergies -- from joint purchasing to sharing of technology -- as it already has between its existing partners.
But with all these other headaches, some experts argue that Ghosn, 52, should not take on a new one.
"He'd be spreading himself too thin," said Garel Rhys, director of the Center for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University in Wales. "The problems at Nissan are nothing compared to the problems at General Motors."
Negotiators for GM and Renault-Nissan are entering the final weeks of three months of exploratory talks that began July 14, after Ghosn's meeting with Wagoner. The talks are believed to center on whether Nissan could take over vacant GM plants in the United States and whether the companies could share development on some vehicles.
"Afterward, we're going to check, mutually, our appetites, and then we'll make a decision," Ghosn said, leaning forward in his chair, in a small meeting room with a view of the Seine. "If you don't have the same appetite on one side as on the other, then it's not worth the trouble."
To critics who say he is overreaching, he replies: "I'm the CEO, nominated by the shareholders. If they're not happy, I have to take the consequences. I'm going to do my best to show that this organization works."
Nissan's stumbles are significant, analysts say, because a compelling subtext of his pitch is that Ghosn would bring the same magic to GM that he brought to Nissan, which he saved from financial ruin after he took over the company in 1999.
The Nissan turnaround -- which he accomplished through sweeping layoffs and plant closings in Japan -- made him a cult hero there, and a potential Mr. Fix-It for broken carmakers everywhere.
Having fixed Nissan, however, Ghosn is finding it hard to sustain growth. The company's operating profit declined 26 percent in the quarter from April to June, and vehicle sales fell 6 percent, to 826,000. Nissan, long proud of its engineering excellence, has also suffered quality problems, including a recall of Altima sedans made at its American plants.
Such limitations may have little effect on Ghosn's ability to cut a deal with General Motors. Executives at Renault say their alliance with Nissan has saved the companies $699 million, just from the joint development of engines and gearboxes.
Nissan and Renault are also starting to roll out cars that share platforms -- one of the alliance's prime benefits. The first example was the Versa, a compact that Nissan began selling in the United States this summer and is virtually sold out. It has essentially the same underpinnings as Renault's Clio.
And expertise is flowing both ways. While Renault's plant here bears a Nissan imprint, Renault influenced a $27.5 million test track that Nissan just opened, on the northern island of Hokkaido.
Nissan engineers visited Renault's main test track, in France, to learn how it tests new cars for European roads, which tend to have steeper inclines and a wider variety of surfaces than Japan or the United States.
While Ghosn is keen to bring GM into the fold, he said he could live without it. "Extending the alliance is an opportunity; it's not a need," he said. "We're not under the gun for anything."
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