Unconfirmed reports have been circulating in Europe that France's Renault Vehicules Industriel may be looking to sell its RVI/Mack commercial truck division. Renault representatives told Newport Communications' Steve Sturgess, visiting Renault in Paris this week, that such rumors are unfounded.

Since Renault recently bought a controlling interest in Nissan and 22.5% of its truck affiliate Nissan Diesel, there has been some speculation that Renault wants to devote more resources to the turnaround of the financially troubled Japanese company. Renault has supposedly been talking to Volkswagen of Germany about selling its truck business.
"The general feeling is there is nothing to it," Sturgess says. "The reaction has been that they were aware that there was some leaks or some conversations about the fact that there was a potential deal in the air. We're here to see what RVI/Mack is doing, and I don't think we would be here if there were any suggestion that the company was advanced in negotiations with another purchaser. If that were the case, this event would have been postponed."
Volkswagen has indicated that it's very keen to get into the heavy truck business, probably through acquisition, so it's quite possible that there have been some exploratory talks with various truck manufacturers. However, since the RVI/Mack commercial vehicle unit is a profitable contributor to Renault's bottom line, a sale to Volkswagen seems unlikely.