PARIS - French car maker Renault said on Friday that it was ready to study an alliance with US group General Motors and urged the board of GM to agree to look at a tie-up of the companies.
Renault owns 44 percent of Japanese group Nissan and suggested that an alliance between the two companies could be expanded to include General Motors, as desired by key GM shareholder US billionaire Kirk Kerkorian.
"Under the right circumstances and with the appropriate partners, the alliance could be expanded further," the statement from Renault said.
"At this point, it is necessary that the GM board and top management fully support this project in order to start the study of this opportunity after the agreement of Renault and Nissan boards," it added.
Under the Renault-Nissan alliance, Nissan owns 15 percent of Renault.
06/30/2006 18:39 GMT