Nissan Motor Co expects alliance partner Renault SA’s board to back its ousting of chairman Carlos Ghosn once it sees evidence from the Japanese automaker’s investigation, chief executive Hiroto Saikawa said in a Monday newspaper interview.
Nissan understands that findings it provided to Renault lawyers more than a month ago have still not been shared in full with the Renault board, Saikawa told France’s Les Echos.
“All that I ask is that the directors of Renault should have access to the full dossier,” Saikawa said. “I think that once that’s the case, they will draw the same conclusions as we did.”
Photo: AFP
Ghosn’s November arrest in Japan and dismissal by Nissan have deepened tensions with its French parent, Renault — which has so far maintained Ghosn in office as chairman and chief executive officer, citing the presumption of innocence.
A spokesman for Renault, which has said judicial confidentiality requires tight restrictions on access to Nissan’s findings even by its own board members, did not return calls and messages seeking comment.
Ghosn has been charged over allegations that he failed to disclose nearly US$80 million in additional compensation for 2010-2018 that he had arranged to be paid later.
Nissan director Greg Kelly and the company itself have also been indicted.
Both men deny that the deferred pay agreements were illegal or required disclosure, while former alliance boss Ghosn has denied a separate breach of trust charge over personal investment losses he temporarily transferred to Nissan in 2008.
Saikawa’s interview was published ahead of a hearing at the Tokyo District Court yesterday, at which Ghosn’s request for release on bail was denied.
The French government, Renault’s biggest shareholder, would support the decision to keep Ghosn at its helm unless it becomes clear he would be “chronically incapacitated” by the Japanese investigation, officials said on Monday.
Saikawa extended an olive branch to Renault and its state shareholder, while also dismissing French speculation that the scandal had been engineered by Nissan to oust Ghosn and end Renault’s control.
“It’s absurd and I don’t understand how anyone can believe such a scenario for a second,” he said. “Look at the evidence; it’s serious.”
While the presumption of innocence must be observed in criminal matters, the Nissan board’s unanimous decision to dismiss Ghosn was grounded in ethical considerations and “the facts brought to light,” Saikawa added.
Renault owns 43.4 percent of Nissan, whose reciprocal 15 percent holding in the French automaker carries no voting rights.
Saikawa also appeared to soften his own earlier calls for changes to guarantee Nissan more autonomy and potentially restore its voting rights — which had rung alarm bells in Paris.
While investors do want to see the alliance structure evolve, “that is really not the current priority,” Saikawa said.
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