Leaders of the two companies were meeting via video link for an alliance board meeting on Thursday following months of intense negotiations over how to reset their long-running partnership. The boards of the two firms would still need to individually approve a potential deal after Thursday's meeting.

Renault is looking for the Japanese automaker to invest in its new electric-vehicle business while Nissan wants Renault, its top shareholder, to sell down its roughly 43% stake and put the 23-year alliance on a more equal footing.

(Reporting by Gilles Guillaume in Paris and Norihiko Shirouzo in Tokyo; writing by Silvia Aloisi; Editing by Richard Lough)