With reference to the most likely ouster of the Chairman of Nissan Carlos Ghosn – who is also the architect of the three company strategic alliance between Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi, the Chief Executive of Mitsubishi Motors, Osamu Masuko, said that it would be difficult to manage the alliance of the companies with the presence of Ghosn.
Ghosn was arrested on Monday in Japan on charges of falsification of financial data and other financial irregularities for years.
It is widely expected that Ghosn, the chairman of Nissan Motor Co, would be removed from his post as chairman of the company when the management board of the Japanese firm meets on Thursday. It would also mark the fall of one of the most known faces of the global auto industry for years now. Ghosn is also credited to have brought out Nissan from the clutches of a near bankruptcy by bringing in investments from French car maker Renault.
Ghosn is also the chairman and chief executive of Renault and hence his exit from the companies has put the future of the alliance in question.
“I don’t think there is anyone else on Earth like Ghosn who could run Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi,” Masuko told reporters in Tokyo.
“The immediate problem is that while we still have people at the top of two companies, there is no one at the third,” Masuko added, referring to Renault.
Ghosn, 64, was the key in the formation of the alliance and had promised to create better synergy between the companies through further consolidation and a deeper tie-up before he would ultimately retreat from participating in the operational matters of the alliance.
Arrested on Monday, Ghosn, will be fired by the Nissan board this week in a dramatic fall for a leader hailed for rescuing the Japanese car maker from near bankruptcy.
The allegations against Ghosn include filing false documents with the Tokyo Stock Exchange about the compensation he received from Nissan for years as well as using company money for financing his personal expenses.
Masuko said that an internal investigation against Ghosn is also being conducted by Mitsubishi and it is likely that the governing body of the company would get together later this week to discuss the issue.
About 43.4 per cent of Nissan is owned by Renault while about 15 percent of Renault is owned by Nissan. Renault however does not have any voting rights in the board of Nissan.
While, the French government has urged Renault, in which the French state has a share, to dismiss Ghosn, form the post of chairman of the company, Lebanon has decided to stand by Ghosn according to a statement issued by Lebanon’s foreign ministry on Tuesday. Carlos Ghosn, is of Lebanese descent and holds Lebanese citizenship.
The ministry said in a statement that the Lebanese ambassador in Tokyo has been ordered by the country’s caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil to meet with Ghosn and follow up on the case.
“Carlos Ghosn is a Lebanese citizen who represents one of the Lebanese successes abroad and the Lebanese foreign ministry will stand by him in his adversity to ensure he gets a fair trial,” it said.
(Source:wwww.nytimes.com & www.reuters.com)
Ghosn was arrested on Monday in Japan on charges of falsification of financial data and other financial irregularities for years.
It is widely expected that Ghosn, the chairman of Nissan Motor Co, would be removed from his post as chairman of the company when the management board of the Japanese firm meets on Thursday. It would also mark the fall of one of the most known faces of the global auto industry for years now. Ghosn is also credited to have brought out Nissan from the clutches of a near bankruptcy by bringing in investments from French car maker Renault.
Ghosn is also the chairman and chief executive of Renault and hence his exit from the companies has put the future of the alliance in question.
“I don’t think there is anyone else on Earth like Ghosn who could run Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi,” Masuko told reporters in Tokyo.
“The immediate problem is that while we still have people at the top of two companies, there is no one at the third,” Masuko added, referring to Renault.
Ghosn, 64, was the key in the formation of the alliance and had promised to create better synergy between the companies through further consolidation and a deeper tie-up before he would ultimately retreat from participating in the operational matters of the alliance.
Arrested on Monday, Ghosn, will be fired by the Nissan board this week in a dramatic fall for a leader hailed for rescuing the Japanese car maker from near bankruptcy.
The allegations against Ghosn include filing false documents with the Tokyo Stock Exchange about the compensation he received from Nissan for years as well as using company money for financing his personal expenses.
Masuko said that an internal investigation against Ghosn is also being conducted by Mitsubishi and it is likely that the governing body of the company would get together later this week to discuss the issue.
About 43.4 per cent of Nissan is owned by Renault while about 15 percent of Renault is owned by Nissan. Renault however does not have any voting rights in the board of Nissan.
While, the French government has urged Renault, in which the French state has a share, to dismiss Ghosn, form the post of chairman of the company, Lebanon has decided to stand by Ghosn according to a statement issued by Lebanon’s foreign ministry on Tuesday. Carlos Ghosn, is of Lebanese descent and holds Lebanese citizenship.
The ministry said in a statement that the Lebanese ambassador in Tokyo has been ordered by the country’s caretaker Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil to meet with Ghosn and follow up on the case.
“Carlos Ghosn is a Lebanese citizen who represents one of the Lebanese successes abroad and the Lebanese foreign ministry will stand by him in his adversity to ensure he gets a fair trial,” it said.
(Source:wwww.nytimes.com & www.reuters.com)
