Alliance partners Renault and Nissan should together become the world's third largest car manufacturer this year, Carlos Ghosn has told the Financial Times.
The Renault chief executive was quoted as saying he expected the global industry to make and sell 70m light vehicles in 2010.
"Very likely this year, we should be in the top three," Ghosn said in today's FT, predicting sales of nearly 7m cars from Renault, Nissan and their Russian partner Avtovaz.
The auto industry is expected to benefit from strong demand in emerging markets this year.
Ghosn said he expected consolidation between car makers to accelerate.
"You don't know who's going to be jumping into the laps of who and when and for what reason, but that's going to happen," he told the FT.