Nissan: new DG delivers advocacy for alliance with Renault

Yokohama (Japan) (AFP)

Makoto Uchida, the new CEO of Nissan, on Monday praised the virtues of the alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors, which should become "stronger", while preserving the independence of the Japanese manufacturer, which is in great difficulty .

The alliance "greatly contributed" to Nissan's renewed growth in the early 2000s, he said during his first press conference as general manager at the group's headquarters in Yokohama (west of Tokyo).

However, Nissan ended up "creating a corporate culture that forced employees to say + it's possible + when it was not," he said, without, however, throwing stone at Carlos Ghosn, the former desolate boss of the group and the alliance, arrested and then indicted in Japan a year ago for alleged financial malpractice.

This pressure had pushed Nissan to focus on short-term growth at the expense of investments for its future, Uchida added.

Wishing to set "ambitious but achievable" goals, the new boss stated his intention to "continue the efforts" of his group in the alliance on the basis of "transparency, trust and mutual respect, while preserving the Nissan's independence.

"The alliance must be beneficial to the three partners, it must be developed and strengthened," said Uchida, who was responsible for purchasing the alliance from 2016 to 2018 before leading Nissan's activities in China.

On the question of a recasting of the capitalistic relations between Renault and Nissan, source of tension for years between French and Japanese and which resurfaced after the shattering eviction of Mr. Ghosn, Mr. Uchida has meant that it does not was not the subject at the moment.

Nissan profits and sales are currently at half-mast, penalized by the slowdown in the global automotive market but also by the lack of renewal of its models and the end of its incentives to support its volumes.

The group also initiated this year a major restructuring of its production capacity, with a view to reducing them by 10% by the end of March 2023, which implies the elimination of 12,500 jobs worldwide.

© 2019 AFP