Renault and Nissan raised their goal for combined savings by 7.5 percent as the 15-year-old alliance accelerates cooperation efforts.

The carmakers expect to save "at least" $5.83 billion by 2016 by stepping up joint projects in development, manufacturing, purchasing and human resources, the automaking partnership said late Thursday in a statement.

Carlos Ghosn, who is chief executive officer of both France-based Renault and Yokohama-based Nissan, had previously targeted $5.42 billion in cost savings. The tighter cooperation follows Fiat's full takeover of Chrysler and its move to create a combined company. The plan goes beyond the Renault-Nissan alliance, which is underpinned by cross-shareholdings.