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 –Â 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.
