The Renault-Nissan Alliance came just short of matching General Motors Co. and joining the ranks of the three-biggest automakers by global sales, after Chief Executive Officer Carlos Ghosn rescued a Japanese peer last year.
Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. combined delivered 9.96 million vehicles last year, the alliance said in an emailed statement. The three automakers chaired by Ghosn finished fewer than 4,000 cars and trucks short of GM's deliveries in 2016 and within about 350,000 units of new worldwide leader Volkswagen AG.
Ghosn emphasized the scale Renault and Nissan would add by coming to the aid of Japanese peer Mitsubishi Motors last year, following a fuel-economy scandal that dates back decades. The alliance is including Mitsubishi Motors in its sales tally despite Nissan owning only about 34 percent of the company.