Ford and GM vie for Renault chief

Ford Motor chief executive William Clay Ford jnr called Carlos Ghosn last month to discuss a partnership if Ghosn fails to form an alliance with General Motors, three people familiar with the matter said.

Ghosn, the CEO of Japan's Nissan and France's Renault, said he wouldn't talk to Ford until his talks with GM conclude, said the sources, who didn't want to be named because the conversation was private. Ghosn and GM chief executive Rick Wagoner are scheduled to present a preliminary report on a possible alliance to their respective directors by mid-October.

The July phone call marks at least the third time that Bill Ford, 49, has approached Ghosn. In August 2005, Bill Ford offered Ghosn a top executive position at the company founded by his great-grandfather Henry Ford, Bloomberg reported last year.

"It simply means that Ford is desperate, that they're trying to find something that will reverse even temporarily their slide in the market," said Eugene Jennings, a business professor at Michigan State University.

Ford lost US$1.44 billion ($2.26 billion) through the first half of this year, and its US market share is in a 10-year decline. Last week, Ford said it will slash North American production 21 per cent in the fourth quarter, in part because of tumbling sales of its profitable F-Series pickup.

Ghosn, 52, rejected Ford's earlier entreaties because he doesn't want to work at a company controlled by its founding family, Bloomberg reported. Ford family members control 40 per cent of the company's shareholder votes through Class B shares which they've agreed to sell only to each other.

Ghosn initiated his alliance talks with GM last month at the behest of Kirk Kerkorian, the Las Vegas billionaire who since last year has bought 9.9 per cent of the Detroit car-maker's shares.

- BLOOMBERG