Japan moved on Wednesday, 21 November 2018, to calm fears over the future of the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi alliance after the arrest of Carlos Ghosn, even as a Nissan executive said the Japanese carmaker is looking at ways to reduce Renault’s influence.
The alliance, which began 19 years earlier and expanded in 2016 to bring in Mitsubishi Motors, has been thrown into uncertainty by allegations that Ghosn engaged in financial misconduct. Ghosn had been the central figure holding the group together and had pushed for deeper integration.
A senior Nissan executive told reporters, on condition of anonymity, that the relationship should return to “the original idea of a win-win relationship” and become “a more equal relationship than before.” The same executive said a cut in Renault’s stake in Nissan should be among the options considered.
Renault currently owns 43.4 percent of Nissan. Nissan, in turn, holds a non-voting 15 percent stake in Renault and 34 percent of Mitsubishi Motors. The ownership structure has long been a source of tension, especially because Renault also has the French government as a 15 percent shareholder.
Ghosn, one of the best-known figures in the global auto industry, also served as chief executive of Renault and chairman of Mitsubishi Motors. His push for closer integration was repeatedly complicated by the French state’s role in Renault.
Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa on Monday presented the company as a victim of Ghosn’s alleged wrongdoing. But the Japanese automaker itself has come under scrutiny, with Asahi reporting on Wednesday that prosecutors are considering whether to bring a case against Nissan.
The legal case has raised questions about the future of the alliance, which is important to all three automakers because it helps them share development costs and compete in a market being reshaped by changing consumer demand and heavy investment in automated and internet-connected vehicles.
Japan’s top government spokesman said the country was ready to support the alliance, describing it as “a symbol of Franco-Japanese industrial success” and calling for a “stable relationship” among the three companies. French officials have also backed stability in the wake of the arrest.
Nissan said on Monday that an internal probe, triggered by a whistleblower tip-off, found that Ghosn had engaged in wrongdoing including personal use of company money and years of under-reporting his pay. The company said it planned to remove him from his post on Thursday.
Japanese prosecutors said Ghosn, 64, and Representative Director Greg Kelly conspired to understate Ghosn’s compensation at Nissan over five years starting in fiscal 2010, reporting about half of the actual 10 billion yen ($88.65 million). Ghosn and Kelly have not commented on the allegations, and Reuters said it had not been able to reach them.
Kyodo News reported on Wednesday that the Tokyo District Court had decided Ghosn and Kelly would be detained for 10 days. Nikkei reported on Tuesday that Ghosn also received share price-linked compensation of about 4 billion yen over a five-year period to March 2015, but that the amount was not disclosed in Nissan’s financial statements.
NHK reported on Wednesday, citing unnamed sources, that prosecutors plan to interview Saikawa voluntarily. Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment, and a Nissan spokesman declined to comment.
Renault on Tuesday named its chief operating officer and a senior board member to stand in for Ghosn, but stopped short of firing him while it waited for more detail on the allegations. That approach may give the company more time to accelerate a permanent succession process.
Shares in Nissan closed 0.4 percent higher on Wednesday after falling nearly 6 percent the previous day. Mitsubishi Motors ended the session down 1 percent after dropping nearly 7 percent on Tuesday.
FILE PHOTO: Carlos Ghosn, chairman and CEO of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance, attends the Tomorrow In Motion event on the eve of press day at the Paris Auto Show, in Paris, France, October 1, 2018. Picture taken October 1, 2018. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau
