Nissan CEO defends alliance with Renault and denies plot against Ghosn

Nissan CEO defends alliance with Renault and denies plot against Ghosn

New M'bishi Motors CEO vows to achieve growth through alliance

Nissan CEO defends alliance with Renault and denies plot against GhosnSaikawa added that he will not do anything to weaken that alliance. In an interview with the French economic daily "Les Echos" published on Tuesday (01.15.2019), Hiroto Saikawa - who has taken over the reins of Nissan since the imprisonment in Japan of Ghosn on suspicion of embezzlement and tax fraud - considered it "absurd" that a plot can be shuffled.

He stressed that he was "the first to be surprised" for what the internal investigation has revealed that "is serious and contrary to ethics," and said he was not aware of the rumors that Ghosn intended to get rid of him.

Moreover, he acknowledged the quality of the work done in 20 years for the recovery of Nissan by the imprisoned leader: "few people in the world would have been able to do what he did".

He explained that at the root of everything is his decision to reinforce the internal warning system in 2017 by faulty inspections of certain Nissan models, to allow employees to anonymously report dysfunctions in the company.

Although he said that he "perfectly" respects the presumption of innocence, he justified the dismissal of Ghosn as president of Nissan, a unanimous decision of his board of directors, for a matter of ethics in light of what they discovered.

Saikawa affirmed that he understands that Renault has not taken the same decision based on the presumption of innocence because he has not had access to the full content of the investigation dossier, and he was convinced that when they do, "they will draw the same conclusion as us."

Asked how it was possible that these alleged irregular behaviors dating back more than 10 years were not leaked, the Japanese executive attributed it to Ghosn having "great credit",

It is a cultural factor that does not excuse the failure of surveillance, but that can explain that there was not an alert before, "he argued.

The CEO of Nissan            stressed that the alliance with Renault is "a key competitive advantage for our companies" and that it will "never do anything that could harm or weaken this structure, on the contrary".

He said he does not pose "any problem" that the French state is in the capital of Renault, which in turn controls 43% of Nissan shares and said that modifying the shareholding structure "is not at all the priority of the moment" .

"The important thing now," he said, "is to stabilize things and work with confidence, not knowing if Nissan should be able to exercise voting rights in Renault," where it has 15% in turn.

For him, what counts is the operative aspect of the alliance. Capital issues will be discussed "calmly". He did not rule out that after having incorporated Mitsubishi as a third partner a quarter could arrive.

The interview was published on the same day that the Japanese justice rejected the demand for release requested by Ghosn, which means - if a possible appeal is not successful - that it will remain behind bars until at least 10 March. (efe)