Paris (AFP)
Renault announced Friday that its managing director, Thierry Bolloré, has been dismissed and replaced immediately for a period of transition by financial director Clotilde Delbos, after an exceptional board of directors intended to turn the page of the Carlos Ghosn era.
"The board of directors has decided to put an end to the mandates of General Manager of Renault SA (...) of Mr. Thierry Bolloré with immediate effect," said the French automaker in a statement.
As a result, the board has appointed Clotilde Delbos general manager of the diamond group "for an interim period," "with immediate effect," the statement said.
A press conference, during which the group's president Jean-Dominique Senard will speak, is scheduled at 12:30 pm at Renault headquarters in Boulogne-Billancourt, southwest of Paris.
The exceptional meeting of the board of directors this Friday, announced only the day before by the builder, aimed to settle the fate of Mr. Bolloré.
The latter "was present at the meeting and spoke, he was criticized for management problems and performance," told AFP a source close to the case.
"There was a vote, no director voted against his dismissal, very few abstentions, usually in a case like this, a leader resigns, who wanted to go to the polls. revocation ", regretted this source.
It is a way for the builder to turn the page of the era Carlos Ghosn, his former fallen CEO, who is awaiting trial in Japan where he has been indicted and placed under house arrest for alleged multiple malpractices. Ghosn had made Thierry Bolloré his runner-up.
In an interview published Thursday evening by Les Echos, Mr. Bolloré denounced "a disturbing coup de force".
This departure comes as a renewal of the management of the Japanese manufacturer Nissan, of which Renault holds 43%, was decided this week to dismiss the main leaders of the Ghosn era.
Since the outbreak of the Ghosn affair, the relations between the French and Japanese management were execrable, threatening the survival of the alliance which also includes Mitsubishi and became last year the first global car manufacturer in number of cars sold.
For its part, the French state, the largest shareholder of Renault with 15% of the capital, had assured, by the voice of the Minister of the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire, not to want to "interfere" in the "choices Group's governance "- while displaying his" confidence "in Mr. Senard.
Past, among others, by the former French industrial giant Pechiney, Clotilde Delbos, 52, joined Renault in 2012 as "director of performance and control" of the company, before being appointed in 2016 financial director. She is a member of the executive committee of the group.
© 2019 AFP