DETROIT, Nov. 16 – Carlos Ghosn, the chief executive of Nissan and Renault, said on Thursday that he was no longer interested in adding a North American partner, at least until earnings improved at the two automakers that he oversees.

“We don’t think the timing is right,” said Mr. Ghosn, in his first public appearance in Detroit since alliance discussions with General Motors ended last month.

“The right moment” to explore a partnership, Mr. Ghosn said after speaking to the Detroit Economic Club, “is when Nissan is growing again.”

Renault is in the midst of a turnaround plan, and Nissan is introducing a line of new models in the hopes of reversing a decline in sales and profit margins.

“Before we envision new frontiers,” he said, “we want to make sure what we’re doing is right. The day we are ready, there may not be an opportunity.”

Although it was G.M. that abruptly pulled out of last summer’s alliance talks, Mr. Ghosn emphasized that Nissan and Renault were not actively seeking a partner at the time. He also said Nissan and Renault shareholders seemed resistant to the proposal, suggesting a deal may not have happened even if G.M. were open to it.

“We didn’t select the moment,” Mr. Ghosn said.

The proposal was made by G.M.’s largest individual shareholder, the billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, and the three automakers participated in more than two months of discussions before G.M.’s board voted to end them. G.M.’s chief executive, Rick Wagoner, believed his company would benefit far less than Nissan and Renault, and Mr. Ghosn was unwilling to pay a premium to compensate for that difference.

Mr. Ghosn said he was not talking to other automakers about working together and did not plan to do so. During the summer, the chief executive of the Ford Motor Company, William Clay Ford Jr., reportedly called Mr. Ghosn and asked him to consider a partnership if discussions with G.M. did not work out.

Analysts say a partnership with a Detroit automaker would help Nissan, the third-largest Japanese carmaker, gain on Toyota and Honda, whose sales are surging. Toyota is in line to surpass G.M., possibly as early as next year, as the world’s largest automaker.

“Sooner or later, Nissan needs to find a way to participate more broadly in North America,” said John Casesa, managing partner of Casesa Strategic Advisers in New York. “The profits that Toyota will make here will be used against all of its competitors, including Nissan. So at some point, it becomes a defensive strategy.”

Nissan could look to G.M. or Ford as it plans to increase production in North America in anticipation of higher sales in the United States. Nissan projects that demand will be higher than its capacity in the coming years, and Mr. Ghosn left open the possibility that, rather than building a factory, he would seek to use a plant closed by a Detroit automaker.

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