Nissan and Renault (and now Mitsubishi) have a deep contractual partnership, but they are not the same company; no merger ever took place. It's a partnership with a great deal of power struggles and friction, complicated at times by the French government's 15 percent stake in Renault, because socialism. Though it's been a largely successful alliance over the past 20 years, the Japanese side of it has wanted more control and authority.