DETROIT -- Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. said it was mulling an offer to join the Ford-Oracle e-commerce venture, as the role of the Internet in the auto business provoked as much talk at the Detroit auto show as the cars themselves.
Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's chief operating officer, said the Japanese company had been approached by Oracle Corp. "We had Oracle people come and explain the potential benefit for Nissan," he told a news briefing at the show.
"We're studying it now and also another vendor. I think it's a good idea. If we go for a system, we'll certainly go together with Renault," Nissan's controlling shareholder, he said.
Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. are scrambling to sign up other automakers to their competing business-to-business e-commerce ventures -- networks allowing companies to bid for and order components from suppliers on the Internet.
GM has held discussions with Toyota Motor Corp. about joining its TradeXchange.com online service. GM also expects its Japanese affiliates to participate, signalling the globalization of this US-led trend.
Oracle officials say they are in talks with several European automakers about joining the Ford-Oracle venture but had not reached any agreements.
The industry expects to slash billions of dollars in purchasing costs and speed up the production process using the Internet, which may also someday eclipse the traditional dealer network in selling cars.
Ford and GM announced separate alliances this week with two major Internet portals, Yahoo and America Online.
Respectively, to provide information to consumers and refer them to dealers.
The alliances will offer consumers descriptions of various models and access to services such as recalls, manuals and lease information.
Consumers can also schedule appointments with dealerships for repairs and tune-ups over the Internet.
"On the surface, it appears that the newly announced ventures are aimed at expanding the companies' online advertising and developing a deeper relationship with their customers," Rod Lache, an analyst with Deutsche Bank Alex.Brown, said in a research report.
"But underneath, it appears that GM and Ford are beginning to lay the infrastructure for what may be an even bigger opportunity to use the vehicle as a portal for a variety of businesses and services," he said.
Renault chairman Louis Schweitzer said Europe was about two years behind the United States industry in incorporating the Internet. "Everyone agrees that business-to-business is a good thing," he said, adding the Internet could help the company attain its goal to shrink the order-to-delivery time.
"But business-to-consumers? No one has found a very satisfactory answer. Our policy first and foremost is to keep up our relationships with our dealers," Schweitzer said.
The French company plans to use the Internet more to inform customers and prospective customers than to sell cars.
Automakers and suppliers are working on ways to install the Internet in cars, with many companies offering basic services such as traffic navigation systems.
GM chairman Jack Smith said the top-of-the-line Cadillac brand will offer Internet capability in the second quarter.
"We have the safest system in the world. It's a hands-off, voice-activated system. It's going to bring the Internet into the vehicle. That's coming in the second quarter," he told reporters on Thursday.
"Imagine you're driving along, and your e-mail is being read to you, and you can respond to your e-mail just by talking," he said.
"In the future, with satellite and wireless, being in the car is no different from being in the home," he said.
