Renault-Nissan alliance boss Carlos Ghosn believes his grouping (Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi) will become number one in sales, bypassing Volkswagen Group and Toyota. During a shareholders meeting earlier this month, Ghosn said: “We have been among the top three car manufacturers since January in sales volume, and we expect to be in the top spot by mid-year — although this was not our goal.”
According to market research company JATO Dynamics, VW Group has sold 3.32 million vehicles, Toyota 3.06 million and Renault-Nissan 3.02 million. JATO uses a combination of vehicle registrations and retail sales to arrive at its figures.
Through the first four months, the alliance is close to the top two.
Renault-Nissan could stay in the top three for some time, excluding any unexpected mergers or acquisitions. The alliance of Groupe Renault, based in France, Japan-based Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., sells cars under nine brands: Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Renault Samsung Motors, Infiniti, Venucia, Dacia, Datsun and Lada.