NISSAN Interested in FORD ?????

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Nissan still sees a partnership with a North American auto company as good for its long-term strategy, but the Japanese automaker isn't in any talks now, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Thursday.

Nissan Motor Co. has a nine-year alliance with Renault SA of France, which Ghosn said was working well. He pointed to shared research costs on ecological technology such as electric cars and joint projects to build cars in new markets such as India and Morocco.

Ghosn, who is also Renault's chief executive, has long thought that adding a partner from North America to solidify its position there to its Asian-European alliance makes sense, he said.

"This is for the long term," he told The Associated Press at Nissan's Tokyo headquarters. "But when it comes, then you will know we have been consistent."

He declined to say when a third partner may be added and refused to elaborate on the prospective partners, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. or Chrysler LLC.

Nissan, Japan's No. 3 automaker, was in talks with GM in 2006, but they fell part. Earlier this year, Nissan reached a deal with Chrysler, under which Nissan will supply cars to Chrysler for sale in South America next year.

Details of the terms weren't released but Nissan has said that there may be more agreements with Chrysler. There have also been reports of Nissan's talks with Ford, although that has not produced any results.

Ghosn has said Nissan has no interest Ford's brands, such as Jaguar and Land Rover. Tata Motors Ltd. of India has been named the preferred bidder for those businesses.

Nissan's North American business has done well lately even as the U.S. auto market is stagnant amid a credit crunch and soaring gas prices. Nissan's U.S. vehicle sales last year rose 5.4 percent to 1.1 million units.

Ghosn was sent to Japan by Renault in 1999, when the cross-Atlantic alliance began. He has steered a remarkable turnaround at Nissan from near bankruptcy to profitability and growth.

Nissan is expecting to post a 480 billion yen ($4.5 billion) profit for the fiscal year ending March 31.

In contrast, U.S. automakers have been struggling. GM reported a $38.7 billion loss for 2007 - the largest annual loss ever for an automotive company, while Ford lost $2.7 billion last year. Daimler AG sold a controlling stake in money-losing Chrysler last year to New York private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP.