Three Advisory Boards are to be set up in North America, Europe and Asia. Renault and DaimlerChrysler will set up the European Advisory Board while Nissan will create and lead the Asian Advisory Board. Renault and Nissan will form a joint team, working alongside their partners' teams in the development of the exchange platform.

The agreement is perfectly in line with the strategy of profitable growth being pursued by Renault and Nissan. The new company now brings together five of the world's largest automobile manufacturers, with overall direct purchasing power of $300 billion. The business potential of the platform as a whole, including both auto and parts makers, represents more than $1,000 billion. The services provided will not just be limited to procurement activities. They will speed up exchanges and allow joint work to be developed between manufacturers and suppliers. By promoting the integration of components suppliers in the products and production tools development process, the online exchange system will make a strong contribution to the performance of automakers and suppliers, reducing development lead times and cutting costs. Finally, these services will be available to all those involved in the supply chain, both buyers and sellers.

(April 13, 2000)