Renault picks new leadership as Ghosn in detention resigns

PARIS, Jan 26, 2019, Kyodo. Renault SA said Thursday it has named a new chairman and CEO to replace Carlos Ghosn, as the once-feted auto tycoon relinquishes all top posts of the auto alliance group he created, after his arrest for alleged financial misconduct, reported the Kyodo News.

The new leadership at the French carmaker will immediately face the challenge of rebuilding ties with longtime alliance partner Nissan Motor Co., which brought the allegations against Ghosn to prosecutors following a whistle-blower tip.

The Renault board appointed Jean-Dominique Senard, CEO of French tire company Michelin, as chairman and promoted Thierry Bollore, deputy CEO of Renault who is currently in charge of overseeing day-to-day operations, to CEO.

“It is important today to find a form of serenity” after the arrest of the former top executive, Senard told reporters following the board meeting, adding he is willing to hold talks with Renault’s alliance partners as soon as possible.

The chairman will be part of the leadership of the partnership which Ghosn has drove for nearly two decades to make it one of the world’s largest auto groups.

Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa said after the new management team was announced in France that this marks “a big step” for their partnership.

“We hope that communications between our boards will improve from now on,” Saikawa said at a press conference at Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama.

He said Nissan is preparing to hold an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting in mid-April to win approval for Senard to join Nissan board.

The meeting will also seek to remove Ghosn and Greg Kelly, his close aide who has also been charged over financial misconduct at Nissan, as members of the board.

Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors Corp., another Japanese partner in the three-way auto alliance, removed Ghosn as chairman shortly after his arrest for alleged financial misdeeds in November.

Renault had maintained him in office as chairman and CEO, citing the presumption of innocence. But his repeatedly extended detention made it difficult to continue to do so.

Nissan is widely viewed as seeking to reduce the influence of Renault in its management and review the alliance to make it more equitable.

Under the alliance, Renault owns 43.4 percent of Nissan, which has a 15 percent stake in the French automaker without voting rights.

“We have been weaker in the past but we hope to play a more active role in the alliance,” Saikawa said.

But the French government — Renault’s biggest shareholder — asked Japan to accept a merger of the two automakers when officials of the two countries met in Tokyo last week, sources have said.

French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has denied that the French delegation, which involved a Renault director, made such a request. Nissan’s Saikawa also said he had not received a merger proposal.

Renault’s board meeting came amid pressure from the French government to ensure the stability of the alliance.

Ghosn has been repeatedly denied bail by a Tokyo court and may remain in detention until his trial starts.

Ghosn, known for saving Nissan from the brink of bankruptcy, was sent to the company from Renault in 1999 as chief operating officer. He became Nissan president in 2000 and served as chief executive officer from 2001 to 2017.

He has been indicted on charges of violating the financial instruments law and aggravated breach of trust.

Ghosn has been accused of understating his remuneration in Nissan’s financial statements for years and transferring derivatives losses from his private asset management company to the Japanese automaker’s books.