Nissan, Renault, Mitsubishi to Adopt One Board for Alliance
Automakers trying to streamline their decision making following the arrest of Carlos Ghosn.
(Bloomberg) -- Nissan Motor Co., Renault SA and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. plan to form a single board that will oversee their alliance’s governance and operations, as the automakers try to streamline their decision making following the arrest of Carlos Ghosn.
Renault said talks on a new structure are taking place, confirming earlier reports. The group will replace two separate Amsterdam-based alliance entities, Renault-Nissan BV and Nissan-Mitsubishi BV, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Renault Chairman Jean-Dominique Senard will probably chair the new committee, one of the people said.
Spokesmen for Nissan and Mitsubishi declined to comment. The three automakers will hold a joint press conference on Tuesday at Nissan’s headquarters in Yokohama, Japan.
Nissan’s board plan to meet to discuss the matter as soon as Tuesday and an announcement could be made shortly after, the people said. Ghosn, released last week from a Tokyo detention center where he was incarcerated for more than 100 days, wants to attend that meeting as a board member, a person with knowledge of his intentions said.
But the Tokyo District Court struck down the request, according to broadcaster NHK.
Read more about the Dutch venture and its relationship to Nissan and Ghosn.
The alliance plan is aimed at fostering more balanced decision-making represented by Senard, Nissan Chief Executive Officer Hiroto Saikawa and Mitsubishi Motors CEO Osamu Masuko. The current structure is seen as outdated and obscure in its functions, with the carmakers’ own investigations having found that former Chairman Ghosn funneled money from the Dutch units. Ghosn has said the claims of improper payments were a “distortion of reality.”
“The proposed arrangement will have no impact on the existence of the RAMA and the cross-shareholding structure, which will both remain in place,” Renault said in its statement.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ma Jie in Tokyo at jma124@bloomberg.net;Kae Inoue in Tokyo at kinoue@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net, Reed Stevenson, Michael Tighe
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