Yesterday, Nissan Motors Chairman Carlos Ghosn was arrested by the Tokyo Public Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly under-declaring his income up to 5 billion yen (44 million USD).
`We are trying to ensure that the cooperation of the three companies is not affected,` Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa said at a press conference last night.
Yesterday’s announcement from the French car company said that Renault’s board of directors `knows the content of Nissan’s announcement` and is waiting for accurate information from Carlos Ghosn.
Logos of the three car companies in the alliance – issan, Renault and Mitsubishi.
Ghosn joined Renault in 1996 and was instrumental in helping the company turn losses into profits thanks to aggressive cost-cutting policies.
In April 2016, Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko asked Ghosn to help revive the car company after the fuel scandal.
However, when no company holds a large stake in each other, this alliance is considered uncertain.
However, the fact that Renault receives a lot of profits from Nissan makes the Japanese car company unhappy.
`They may have many more disagreements about strategy. This power disturbance risks being more serious at all three companies,` commented Takaki Nakanishi at Nakanishi Research Institute, `Ghosn is the key to helping
The three car companies plan to sell 14 million cars in 2022, an increase of 40% compared to the present.
This alliance is built on a rather strange framework.
`Ghosn has seized power for himself and created an alliance management framework that cannot function without him,` said a longtime executive at Nissan.
Nissan and Renault have long been playing a power game of tug of war.
Ghosn has worked to strengthen collaboration while maintaining each company’s independence.
