Nissan sets Russian AvtoVAZ expansion
PARIS/MOSCOW (Reuters) Renault and Japanese partner Nissan moved to expand in the growing Russian car market on Thursday with a $750 million deal that would give the French manufacturer effective control of Lada maker OAO AvtoVAZ.
AvtoVAZ employees stand moncler jackets outlet online at the last stage of an moncler outlet shop cheap moncler jackets outlet assembly line at the moncler jackets for women factory on the Volga River, in Togliatti, September 25, 2009. moncler outlet store REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov
cheap moncler The tentative agreement moncler outlet online store to double the alliance 25 percent stake via a joint venture with a Moscow state entity ups the ante for Renault Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn four year old bet on the Russian market, though some analysts said the deal looked dear valuing AvtoVAZ at nearly treble its $1.2 billion market capitalization and was prone to legal and political vagaries.
monlcer down jackets The purchase will moncler jackets cheap be finalized only later this year and moncler jacket outlet not implemented until 2014, according to a statement from the firms.
deal appears quite expensive, said Vladimir Bespalov, auto analyst at Russia VTB bank, who also voiced surprise at Renault choosing to buy in via moncler outlet uk a joint venture. But, he added, it offers Renault Nissan a strategic hold in a fast growing market which promises to soon overtake Germany in volume terms.
moncler mens jackets won see much moncler coats for cheap growth in moncler outlet kids Europe, but the Russian auto market is growing quite well, he said, forecasting the Lada moncler outlets usa name would remain as a low cost brand while the alliance could expand by having AvtoVAZ also make Renault and Nissan marquees.
buy moncler jackets The Russian state will also give AvtoVAZ an extension on $1.56 billion in interest free loans after it sells assets to repay $238 million. A source familiar with the deal said repayments due by 2019 would now stretch at least until 2032.
cheap moncler outlet Though by moncler outlet no means alone among Western cheap moncler jackets wholesale carmakers moncler outlet canada in seeking expansion inside Russia daunting tariff fortress at a time when markets in moncler outlet online Europe are sluggish and labor costs in Russia womens moncler jackets relatively low, Ghosn has taken a lead in boosting manufacturing there and in sourcing parts locally to sidestep import duties.
moncler sale memorandum is moncler outlets uk the latest step in an expanding collaboration that helps modernize the cheap moncler jackets leader of Russia auto industry, Ghosn said in the statement.
moncler outlet RUSSIAN GAMBLE With his original $1 billion acquisition of a 25 https://www.hotmoncleroutlet.com percent AvtoVAZ stake in 2008, Ghosn was gambling that he could transform the struggling firm into a profitable volume manufacturer by injecting modern, low cost vehicle technology developed for Renault Dacia Logan vehicle family.
His plan hit a big bump when the economic crisis of the following year halved total Russian car sales and prompted a Russian government bailout. AvtoVAZ moncler coats for women is only now introducing discount moncler jackets the first new Lada models based on the Renault vehicle platform.
moncler outlet sale Under the agreement, Renault Nissan would buy out Troika Dialog stake in Moncler Factory Outlet AvtoVAZ to hold 67.13 percent of a joint venture with state owned Russian Technologies which, in turn, moncler outlet woodbury controls the automaker through a buy moncler jackets toronto 74.5 percent stake.
moncler sale outlet So, for $300 million, Renault would be swapping its current 25 percent direct stake in AvtoVAZ for cheap moncler coats for women an indirect 35 percent holding. Nissan would pay a further $450 million for an effective 15 percent stake. Renault owns 43.4 percent of Nissan, which for its part holds 15 percent of the French carmaker.
Western corporate investment in strategic Russian industries has been beset by complexities ranging from difficulties in exercising full shareholder moncler outlet location control to outright political interference and allegations of official corruption. Analysts will watch closely how Ghosn is able to ensure his executives influence over strategy at AvtoVAZ headquarters on the Volga.
cheap moncler jackets Questions of corporate governance, including how much say Renault Nissan will have in appointing the chief executive of the joint venture, were unclear. One source familiar with the deal would say only that moncler jacket online it remained a issue
While moncler jackets canada the tentative accord is a step towards the partnership control of AvtoVAZ, should by no means be taken for granted that the deal will progress smoothly to its conclusion IHS Automotive analyst Tim Urquhart said.
little moncler coats for men doubt that the relationship between Renault and AvtoVAZ has been fraught with management, financial and legal difficulties, he added.
cheap moncler coats The return of Vladimir Putin to the Kremlin on Monday after a four year hiatus as prime minister to his protg, outgoing president Dmitry Medvedev, has also left many investors, though tempted by its oil fueled consumer growth, uncertain that Russia will break with a moncler coats chequered past as a place to do business.
Among high profile problems was moncler jackets on sale the falling out between BP and its Russian joint venture partners that cost the British oil firm a major Arctic project last year with state owned Rosneft.
NEW STRATEGIES But the temptations of the Russian market remain powerful: car registrations are expected to rise by 6 percent this year and to reach 4 million vehicles by 2015 on increasing household incomes and consumer spending, surpassing the region biggest market Germany as western European sales stagnate.
Russia is already the third biggest market for the Franco Japanese alliance including AvtoVAZ, and the three aim to increase their moncler coats sale combined market share to 40 percent from the current 33 percent.
moncler outlet online While the debt restructuring will give AvtoVAZ a balance moncler outlet mall sheet with no liquidity constraints the alliance will accelerate technology transfer to the Russian automaker, the companies said in their statement. AvtoVAZ sales will not be consolidated into Renault before 2014 at the earliest.
cheap moncler sale Renault Nissan rivals have also been investing in Russia, with manufacturing expansions recently announced by Volkswagen, Ford and General Motors and their local partners.
Italy Fiat on whose 124 moncler coats for kids sedan the Lada Classic was based in the 1960s moncler jackets kids when AvtoVAZ main Togliatti plant was built moncler jackets outlet is close to finalizing plans to discount moncler outlet build a factory in St Petersburg.
But the scale of Ghosn investment dwarfs others adding annual production capacity of 1 million vehicles to existing Renault and Nissan facilities in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Moscow planned accession to the World Trade Organisation this year should continue to moncler jackets toronto mean cuts in import duty on new cars a reduction from 32 percent is planned. But investors still see benefits to foreign manufacturers in local production due to excise duty perks for firms which invest in Russia.
moncler outlet store Russian motorists, relieved of the constraints of the Cold War, have turned increasingly to foreign brands as incomes have increased. Lada sales have fallen 15 percent cheap moncler in the first quarter of this year and may not be helped by a moncler coats cheap recall last week of nearly 100,000 new Ladas due to a fault moncler jackets mens.
