Carlos Ghosn said there was “zero chance” Renault would acquire partners Nissan and Mitsubishi, bringing more clarity on a 19-year-old alliance that is preparing for a future without its chief architect.

It has been a year and a half since Nissan took a controlling stake in Mitsubishi and installed British executive Trevor Mann as its COO. Mann is already seeing positive results at the brand, as he told Automotive News Europe in an interview.

Toyota, Nissan, Honda and others are partnering with the country's biggest transmission suppliers to jointly develop next-generation transmission technologies that can be shared among the members.

One of the Nissan Leaf's newest features, the go-cartlike e-Pedal, began life as a performance-enhancing technology prototyped for sporty driving in the Maxima sedan.