Renault sees Nissan COO exit speeding up alliance deal

Gupta will leave the carmaker when his term on its board of directors ends on June 27. — Bloomberg

PARIS: Renault SA executives are optimistic that one of their counterparts leaving Nissan Motor Co is likely to speed up efforts to rebalance their decades-long alliance, according to people familiar with the matter.

The pending departure of Nissan chief operating officer (COO) Ashwani Gupta should accelerate work towards a definitive agreement that the two companies had expected to reach earlier this year, said the people, who asked not to be identified while discussing private deliberations.