The Renault-Nissan Alliance will open a research office later this month in the heart of Silicon Valley. The facility will be located directly across from the Google campus and minutes from leading hardware and software companies in Mountain View, Calif.
The Alliance says the facility will allow the automotive group to capitalize on the region’s world-class engineering talent. In addition, it will be able to stay ahead of trends that are reshaping the way people interact with their cars.
“The Alliance is at the vanguard of the auto industry’s shift to sustainable transportation,” says Carlos Ghosn, CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. “Having a greater footprint in one of the world’s headquarters for clean tech research will extend our lead further.”
Ghosn is giving a talk at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) today, June 14, 2011. Ghosn’s “Clean Cars” presentation at Stanford will focus on how and why zero-emission technologies is leading to unprecedented opportunities in the auto industry and economy.
The new office will build staff organically to focus on specific projects and business developments as they emerge. Small, highly efficient teams will initially work on vehicle IT development, advanced engineering research and technology recruitment.
Created in 1999, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is a partnership between two of the largest automakers in Europe and Japan. Renault and Nissan, which together employ more than 350,000 workers, sold 7.2 million cars in 2010 – about one in 10 cars worldwide. Paris-based Renault and Yokohama-based Nissan collaborate through joint purchasing, platform sharing and cross-shareholding. They maintain separate brands and cultural identities.
