Renault’s $11.2 billion loss tied to its Nissan stake adds to tensions in the already rocky partnership

Renault rescued Nissan in 1999 and the two automakers have held stakes in one another since, in a rocky partnership that never saw them merge.

Heavily indebted Nissan has hit another rough patch, posting a net loss of $4.5 billion for the financial year to March 2025 and announcing plans to cut 15 percent of its workforce.

Its share price has also plunged by nearly 40 percent in the past year, and the shares are now worth less than a quarter of their value during the heyday of the partnership with Renault in the 2000s.

Companies have some possibility to not reflect the fluctuations in the value of their equity stakes in other firms in their accounts, but international accounting rules have been pushing for them to reflect market value.

Renault said Tuesday that it will shift its treatment of its Nissan stake to account for it as a financial investment as of June 30, 2025, which “will result in the recognition of a loss estimated at 9.5 billion euros”, it said in a statement.

It added the change would have no cash impact or affect dividend payments to shareholders.

But going forward it will mean that the fluctuations in Nissan’s share price will be reflected in Renault’s equity value and not in its operating results.

Previously any dividends that Nissan paid shareholders were booked as income, boosting Renault’s earnings during some years. Renault said it has received eight billion euros in dividends from Nissan since the foundation of their alliance.

The French automaker built up a stake in Nissan of nearly 36 percent, which became a source of tensions between France and Japan, and a recent agreement will see them reduce its official 15 percent cross-shareholding to 10 percent.

Renault said the accounting change wouldn’t affect its projects underway with Nissan, including the development of a new Nissan Micra subcompact based on the new electric Renault 5.