France Starts to Shift Its Position on Nissan
While Paris is following due process on Carlos Ghosn, it’s also looking at possible fresh blood at Renault and changes in governance. That’s welcome.
Emmanuel Macron is starting to plan for a new era at Renault.
Photographer: Etienne Laurent/AFP/Getty Images
Carlos Ghosn was the glue that held the Renault-Nissan Alliance together. As he languishes in a Japanese jail a month after his shocking arrest on suspicion of understating pay and misusing company assets — allegations he has denied — the partnership is in danger of becoming unstuck. Whatever the future for the 64-year-old, the alliance would do well to adjust to a new era.
Recent events have pointed to an escalation in Franco-Japanese tensions over the arrest. Renault has consistently supported its chairman and chief executive, arguing that it hasn’t seen proof to eject him in the way Nissan did — a position broadly supported in Parisian circles. Nissan, meanwhile, has dug in its heels, refusing to accede to French demands for a shareholder meeting (Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan, and Nissan 15 percent of Renault.) The Japanese company says it will set its own timetable to replace Ghosn.