• Tweeter

  • republish

Jean-Dominique Senard, Renault President, Thierry Bolloré, Renault General Manager, Hiroto Saikawa, Nissan's Chief Executive, and Osamu Masuko, Mitsubishi CEO in Yokohama, Japan, January 12, 2019. REUTERS / Kim Kyung-Hoon

The senior executives of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors were meeting on March 12 in Yokohama, Japan. The leaders show their union and their desire for a new beginning. In a statement, they announced the creation of a new operational council of the alliance. The goal is to learn the lessons of the Carlos Ghosn era and to name a new direction. The former CEO of Renault has also tried to invite the appointment, without success.

The goal of this meeting of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi builders in Yokohama, Japan is indeed to turn the page of the last two decades, with a new governance, a new operational council for the alliance. It will no longer meet in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, headquarters of subsidiaries that would have served the personal interests of Carlos Ghosn , but in Paris and Tokyo: a way to show that we want to better share power, avoid hegemony of one or the other of the leaders.

Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa, the man who made Carlos Ghosn fall, believes it is a true partnership on an equal footing. A " win-win-win " agreement, that is to say, "win-win-win". Jean-Dominique Sénard, Renault's president, who is talking about a fresh start, will be the number one on the board, but he will have to deal with his Japanese allies more.

For his part, Carlos Ghosn did not shoot down all his cards. The ousted builder of the alliance had tried to invite himself to the meeting of Yokohama: he remains for a few weeks still administrator of the alliance since he was ousted only from his chair of president. In a statement, he said he was ready to fulfill his professional obligations towards the shareholders who elected him. How to show that he is still in the game and how to launch a media battle. At any time, he can draw a press conference, why not immediately, by bypassing the renewal process initiated by his successor.

In France, a judicial inquiry was opened on the wedding of Carlos Ghosn in 2016 at the Château de Versailles . The Renault company has indeed reported suspicions about the financing of the party.