On Monday, shares in Renault SA (EPA: RENA) climbed in mid-morning trading after media reported that alliance partner Nissan Motor Co Ltd (TYO:7201) is provoking Renault to cut its stake in the Japanese automobile maker.

The Japanese company would ideally like to see Renault’s stake in the firm reduced to 15 per cent from the current level of about 43 per cent and is mulling over possibly raising the cash needed to repurchase shares.

The reports said that Nissan would agree to plug investment into Renault’s planned division for electric vehicle assets. The alliance partnership would also reportedly not be impacted by the move. While Nissan declined to comment on the same, Renault did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Founded in 1933, Nissan is a Japanese automobile manufacturer. The company is headquartered in Yokohama and sells its vehicles under the Nissan, Infiniti, and Datsun brands. Nissan also has in-house performance tuning products labelled Nismo.

Renault Group is a French multinational automobile manufacturer founded in 1899. The company manufactures a range of cars and vans and, in the past, has produced trucks, tractors, tanks, buses/coaches, and aircraft.