French Govt is Keen to Fortify Renault-Nissan Alliance

France's finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, says French government's priority as a shareholder in automaker Renault SA is to fortify its alliance with Nissan.

Le Maire told media during a news conference Sunday after a meeting in Japan of the Group of 20 major economies that protecting jobs and Renault's factories and technology was his pre-eminent concern.

He said that consolidating the alliance with other automakers such as Fiat-Chrysler is a secondary issue, but decisions on that should be made by the companies themselves.

When asked, Le Maire said he had no plans to meet with Nissan's CEO, Hiroto Saikawa.

Fiat Chrysler suddenly withdrew an offer to merge with Renault this past week after the French automaker asked for more time to persuade Nissan to agree to the plan.