The French government calls for the arrest of Renault Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn in Japan, a provisional leadership of the group. "Mr. Ghosn is not able to run the company today," said Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday the radio news channel Franceinfo.
Le Maire has a big say in the crisis as the French state owns 15 percent of Renault's shares. The government is not operating the formal replacement of the top manager, said Le Maire. "We have no evidence."
The Renault board of directors should, according to Le Maire, "come together in the next few hours" to appoint an acting director for the company. Renault announced a meeting of the panel for Tuesday afternoon. According to insiders, his tasks should be provisionally redistributed.
Le Maires said that the partnership between the two carmakers was in the interest of France and Japan and the two companies. He announced talks with the Japanese side about the topic. Priority for France has the stability of Renault. Ghosn is currently unable to run the company.
Has Ghosn given 40 million too few?
Ghosn had been arrested on Monday for suspected violations of stock market regulations. According to internal investigations, Ghosn and another manager misrepresented their cash withdrawals in official reports to the Japanese Stock Exchange and underestimated in Ghosn's case. The media reported that since 2011 Ghosn has spent a total of 5 billion yen over five years on too little income.
Ghosn is one of the world's most influential automotive managers. He is considered the architect of the alliance of Renault and Nissan, which also includes the Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi. Experts fear that the alliance could fall apart if Ghosn no longer holds the strings in his hand.
The news had sparked a shock wave in the stock market and in the industry. The shares of Renault 
and Nissan lost significantly in value.