What’s Become of Ghosn as Nissan and Renault Revamp Alliance?

The alliance forged by Carlos Ghosn between Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co. is being revamped as the carmakers chart separate paths, an outcome set in motion by his arrest on charges of financial misconduct four years ago. After serving two lengthy stints in jail before being released on bail, Ghosn slipped out of the country in late 2019 and found sanctuary in Lebanon, where he has citizenship. He has professed his innocence and said the deck had been stacked against him. While the carmakers are making a fresh start, the Ghosn saga remains unfinished business.

Ghosn, now 68, had had a high profile in the country since 1999, when the French automaker rescued Nissan with a cash injection. Ghosn, who had revived Renault as executive vice president, was assigned to turn around the Japanese carmaker. He reduced purchasing costs, shut factories, eliminated 21,000 jobs and invested the savings into 22 car and truck models in three years. It wasn’t long before he was feted in manga comic books, mobbed for autographs during plant tours, and generally heaped with national adulation for saving a car company once given up for dead. But he’d been called out over his pay in Japan, where executive compensation is a touchy topic.