Discussions about a possible alliance of General Motors, Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. have found a number of areas in which the automakers could usefully collaborate, a Renault executive said, according to a published report.

GM chief executive Rick Wagoner and Renault-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn have met several times and were to do so again this week in Paris, where the Paris Motor Show opens with a news media preview Thursday.

``I think the meeting with Rick Wagoner and Carlos Ghosn will help move things along,'' Renault vice-president Patrick Pelata told reporters in Paris on Monday, according to the Detroit Free Press.

``We are discussing the big issues seriously,'' Pelata said. ``There are synergies. The accumulation of things we are discussing is not small.''

Pelata said that Renault and Nissan could benefit from GM's engineering and technology expertise, according to the report.

``GM has a lot of engineering resources,'' said Pelata. ``They are better at localizing products for individual markets than we are.... They also have better information technology and software.''

In July, Detroit-based GM, France's Renault and Japan's Nissan agreed to conduct a 90-day review of the potential benefits of an alliance that could create an auto giant with a combined annual production of 15 million vehicles.

The study came after GM shareholder Kirk Kerkorian, who owns a 9.9 per cent stake in GM, called for the carmakers to pursue an alliance.

GM has been stumbling amid intense competition from Asian rivals.
It has announced plans to close 12 plants by 2008, slash its work
force and cut costs.