The Renault Group board was yesterday to meet to replace company chairman and chief executive officer Carlos Ghosn, in a move that could help ease tensions with alliance partner Nissan Motor Co following Ghosn’s arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct.
The meeting started at 10am and considered the proposed appointment of outgoing Michelin Group CEO Jean-Dominique Senard, 65, as chairman and the promotion of Ghosn’s deputy Thierry Bollore to CEO, three sources familiar with the matter told reporters.
The French automaker confirmed that an emergency board meeting was planned yesterday, but declined to comment on its agenda.
The decision, two months after Ghosn’s Nov. 19 arrest and swift dismissal as Nissan chairman, turns a page on his two decades at the helm of a partnership that he transformed into a global giant, following Renault’s acquisition of a near-bankrupt Nissan in 1999.
Ghosn has been charged with failing to disclose more than US$80 million in additional Nissan compensation from 2010 to last year that he had arranged to be paid later.
Nissan director Greg Kelly and the Japanese company itself have also been indicted.
Both men have denied that the deferred pay agreements were illegal or required disclosure.
Ghosn has also denied a separate breach of trust charge over personal investment losses that he temporarily transferred to Nissan in 2008.
Nissan has said that it takes the matter seriously and pledged to improve corporate governance.
Ghosn has now agreed to resign from Renault, the sources said.
However, he only did so after the French government, the group’s biggest shareholder, called for leadership change and his bail requests were rejected by the Japanese courts.
As of late Tuesday, no formal resignation had been received, French Minister for the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire said.
Senard faces the immediate task of soothing relations with Nissan, which is 43.4 percent owned by Renault and the junior partner in the alliance, despite making more sales.
Since Ghosn’s arrest, Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa has sought to weaken Renault’s control and resisted its attempts to nominate new directors to the Japanese company’s board.
Nissan owns a 15 percent non-voting stake in its French parent and 34 percent in Mitsubishi Motors, a third major partner in the manufacturing alliance.
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