Renault Inc

Renault, France's second-largest automaker, agreed to buy 25% of Russia's OAO AvtoVAZ, fending off a bid from General Motors Corp. Renault will purchase the stake in Russia's No. 1 car company from state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport, a spokesman for the defense firm said. He declined to give a price.

Beverly Hills investor Kirk Kerkorian called Friday for General Motors Corp. to explore an alliance with France's Renault and its Japanese affiliate Nissan Motor Corp., an arrangement that could dramatically alter the global automotive landscape. Kerkorian, whose investment company holds a 9.9% stake in General Motors, floated the idea in a letter to GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner that was filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

France should be cautious about the prospect of General Motors Corp.'s joining the Renault-Nissan alliance, an official said Tuesday, a day after the Renault and Nissan boards invited GM to begin talks. "We should be extremely cautious," Industry Minister Francois Loos said in an interview with i-Tele television. "This shouldn't be taken as a done deal; it's an idea." Loos was speaking after the board of Renault and Nissan Motor Co.

General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Rick Wagoner plans to meet with Carlos Ghosn, his counterpart at Renault and Nissan Motor Co., next week to discuss a possible alliance, according to a GM executive who was briefed on the schedule.

As the board of General Motors Corp. meets today to consider billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian's proposal to ally the ailing automaker with Renault and Nissan Motor Co., industry analysts and academics remain more puzzled than sold. They believe the plan is little more than an attempt by Kerkorian to boost the value of his 9.9% stake in GM while pressuring Chief Executive Rick Wagoner to speed his timetable for restoring the company's health after a $10.6-billion loss last year.

The directors of General Motors Corp. on Friday authorized the giant automaker to explore the feasibility of a global alliance with Nissan Motor Co. of Japan and its French partner, Renault. GM Chairman and Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, the architect of the company's current turnaround plan, will head the review team. He has scheduled a meeting with his counterpart at the Nissan-Renault alliance, Carlos Ghosn, reportedly for July 14.

Carlos Ghosn, chief executive of automakers Renault and Nissan Motor Co., on Thursday ruled out running General Motors Corp. in an expanded alliance that will be the focus of talks to begin today. "I'm not going to run any other third company, and that's not what's at stake here," Ghosn told business channel CNBC in an interview Thursday. Kirk Kerkorian, GM's largest individual shareholder, proposed the tie-up June 30.