For Renault, A New Chance To Take On The World

Renault Chairman and Chief Executive Louis Schweitzer looks relaxed for a man who has just flown in from a tough week in Tokyo. Schweitzer had arrived in Japan just after Carlos Ghosn announced his radical restructuring plan for Nissan Motor Co., and had feared an avalanche of criticism. Yet the reaction among Japanese officials, union leaders, and Nissan's managers was decidedly measured. "A Japanese newspaper put it best: It was a tough plan, but not a cruel plan," Schweitzer says in his eighth-floor office overlooking the Seine. "And since Nissan has been through a lot of restructuring attempts in the past, it's important that this one work."

That's an understatement. The new plan for Nissan is vital for both Renault and the ailing Japanese giant. Schweitzer's $5 billion investment in Nissan last May is a bet on the very future of the leading French carmaker. With Nissan, Renault has a shot at being one of the planet's few truly global players in the auto business. Without it, it would remain a European presence--but not much more. "For us," says Schweitzer, "it was a choice between staying regional or going global."