Renault not in discussions with Chrysler

French automaker Renault today told Reuters it was not talking to anyone about buying Chrysler’s Jeep Division from Cerberus Capital Management. People familiar with the situation had said the private equity firm was in negotiations to sell the automaker, in whole or in pieces, to Renault or General Motors.

“There are no discussions. We are focusing on dealing with the current market situation,” Renault spokeswoman Frederique Le Greves said. A spokesman for Nissan declined comment on any talks with the Japanese automaker which is 44-percent-owned by Renault.

Renault recently named Patrick Pelata to be its chief operating officer, leaving Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Renault and Nissan, free to devote more time to strategy, including mergers and acquisitions. Ghosn has, in the past, been open about his desire to have the French-Japanese auto alliance partner with a North American automaker.

Cerberus and GM are pushing for an agreement by the end of October while Cerberus is talking with Daimler AG about acquiring the 19.9 percent of Chrysler it doesn’t already own. Daimler AG has already said it wants no part of a GM-Chrysler merger.

Tough economic conditions are forcing automakers to look at their operations to see where there might be opportunity to raise some much-needed cash. Ford is selling its 33-percent majority stake in Mazda to a group of twenty Japanese companies and General Motors is said to be considering selling its Saab subsidiary. GM has already put its Hummer brand up for sale.

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