This report from Tokyo said Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko warned that the Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi alliance could be difficult to manage without Carlos Ghosn, who was then in police custody in Japan over financial misconduct allegations.
Masuko said he did not think anyone else could match Ghosn’s role in overseeing Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi. He described the immediate problem as a leadership gap at Renault, even though senior figures remained in place at the other two companies.
Ghosn, who was 64, had been the central figure in building the alliance and had earlier pushed for a deeper consolidation before stepping back from day-to-day operational control. At the time, he was chairman of Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motor Corp, and also chairman and chief executive of Renault.
His arrest on Monday marked a dramatic reversal for a man widely credited with helping rescue Nissan from near bankruptcy. Nissan said an internal investigation, triggered by a whistleblower tip-off, had found allegations that Ghosn used company money for personal purposes and under-reported his compensation for years.
Masuko said Mitsubishi was also carrying out its own internal probe into Ghosn’s conduct. He added that the Mitsubishi board would likely meet by the end of the following week to decide Ghosn’s future at the company.
The alliance’s structure was built on cross-shareholdings. Renault owns 43.4 percent of Nissan, while Nissan owns 15 percent of Renault without voting rights in a partnership that began in 1999. Since 2016, Nissan has also held a 34 percent controlling stake in Mitsubishi Motors.
