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'Zero' chance of Renault taking over Nissan, Mitsubishi, says Ghosn

TOKYO — Renault SA absorbing Nissan Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp is not an option as the carmakers look to strengthen their partnership while retaining their autonomy, alliance chairman Carlos Ghosn said on Friday. "Anybody who will ask Nissan and Mitsubishi to become wholly owned subsidiaries of Renault has zero chance of getting a result," Ghosn told shareholders of Mitsubishi Motors at a meeting. He also serves as chief executive of France's Renault. The alliance was the world's top-selling passenger vehicle maker in 2017, but as the global auto industry consolidates, it is looking to strengthen its position before the 64-year-old Ghosn, its main architect, retires in the coming years after overseeing the partnership for nearly 20 years. We reported in March that the carmakers were discussing a deeper tie-up, which could see the French government, a major shareholder in Renault, give up influence at Renault and the French carmaker relinquish control over Nissan. The three automakers have a unique partnership designed to leverage their combined scale to save on costs including R&D, parts procurement and production to better compete with rivals Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. They are also interlinked by their shareholding structure. Renault holds 43.4 percent of shares in Nissan, while Nissan owns 15 percent of Renault, with no voting rights in a partnership that began in 1999. Mitsubishi Motors joined the alliance in 2016 after Nissan took a 34 percent controlling stake in the smaller automaker. Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa has said the alliance is not discussing a "full merger." Ghosn said that while the focus of the alliance was to sell more cars and increase profitability by reducing unnecessary duplication of processes, he wanted each of the three automakers to maintain their independence, which differentiated the group from Toyota and Volkswagen. "We need to work together ... to find a system by which what we have today, which is working very well, can continue in the future no matter who is leading the alliance," he said. "We need to prove that this is sustainable five years down the road, 10 years down the road, 15 years down the road." In a Figaro interview published last week, Ghosn was upbeat about the prospect of securing a new deal for the alliance despite its extreme political sensitivity in France and Japan, saying a plan would need to be announced "well before" the end of his four-year term at the helm of Renault in 2022.

Ousted Renault CEO Bollore raised concerns over Ghosn investigation

PARIS — Renault's former chief executive Thierry Bollore, who was ousted in October, had sought to flag alleged conflicts of interest and governance problems at the company's Japanese alliance partner Nissan before his departure, Le Monde reported on Monday. Citing a letter from Oct. 7 addressed to Nissan's board, of which he was member, France's Le Monde newspaper said Bollore had raised questions over the firm's internal investigation surrounding former alliance boss Carlos Ghosn. Nissan and Renault were left reeling by Ghosn's arrest in Tokyo a year ago, on financial misconduct charges which he denies. They have since tried to reboot their strained partnership by revamping their management teams, including by purging them of Ghosn allies and removing people in top jobs at the time of the scandal. Bollore — who took a step up at the French carmaker when Ghosn left even though he was known for his close ties to the alliance founder — was eventually pushed out as Renault's CEO on Oct. 11, days after penning his letter. In comments sent to Reuters, Nissan spokeswoman Azusa Momose denied there were any irregularities in its internal investigation of Ghosn's affairs, and added that the company had reviewed its processes once again following Bollore's letter. "Nissan's independent directors confirmed that the investigation was properly conducted and could be relied on," Momose said. Nissan directors had discussed all the allegations raised by Bollore and the company "concluded that Bollore's concerns were not founded and were based for the most part on inaccurate information and speculation," she added. Bollore said in the letter that he was particularly concerned by the revelation that Nissan had a list of 80 managers implicated in financial dealings similar to the ones attributed to Ghosn. He also raised issues with the chain of command at Nissan, saying some key board members were sometimes kept in the dark on internal matters. Renault, which is still searching for a permanent replacement for Bollore as CEO, had no immediate comment. As well as changing its CEO, Nissan recently demoted senior vice president Hari Nada — a key whistleblower against Ghosn and whose role was also questioned in Bollore's letter — although its internal investigation had found no evidence against the executive. Related Video:

Nissan sues Ghosn's sister while Renault finds no irregularities in his pay

Nissan sued ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn's sister on Tuesday in a Rio de Janeiro court for "unjust enrichment," according to judicial records seen by Reuters. The suit is the latest twist to a bitter legal fight between Ghosn and Nissan over the contents of a beachfront apartment that the former executive used during his trips to Brazil. Brazilian-born Ghosn is accused of having underreported his income while leading the Japanese carmaker and diverting company funds for his personal use. He is being held in a prison in Japan and the carmaker says there might be evidence of his alleged crimes in the Rio apartment. Additional details regarding the unjust enrichment suit were not immediately available and it was unclear how long it might take to resolve the case. A representative for the Ghosn family did not have an immediate comment. The Japanese press had already reported that Ghosn's sister, Claudine Bichara de Oliveira, could be embroiled in the scandal. Yomuri, Japan's largest daily by circulation, reported in November citing unnamed sources that Nissan's internal investigation had found that Ghosn instructed the company since 2002 to pay some $100,000 a year to his elder sister. The compensation was supposed to be for a role as an adviser. The paper added that Bichara de Oliveira had in fact been living in and managing the Rio apartment that Nissan had bought for the use of Ghosn and that she had done no advisory work for the car maker. Meanwhile, Renault issued a preliminary report indicating that an audit launched in the wake of Chairman and CEO Carlos Ghosn's arrest in Japan had so far found no irregularities with his pay at the French carmaker. Ghosn was charged on Monday in Japan for failing to declare deferred income he had agreed to receive from Nissan, for the five years ending March 2015. There is speculation that Nissan itself may be indicted in Japan as part of the case against Ghosn. While Nissan fired Ghosn days after his Nov. 19 arrest, Renault has resisted pressure to replace him permanently. The Renault board also "noted that, at this stage, it does not have information concerning Carlos Ghosn's defense," the company said after its meeting, which had long been scheduled to discuss 2018-19 financial accounts. During the five-hour session, several directors led by Cherie Blair, wife of the British former prime minister Tony Blair, began to express impatience with that position, two people with knowledge of the matter said.