The new Nissan-Renault alliance will not please the man who originally brought the companies together.
Some years ago, when he was still a motor industry demigod, I was invited to interview Carlos Ghosn in Japan. It was the stuff of nightmares. Nearly 20 hours in the air to reach Tokyo, just enough time on the ground for the meeting, then straight back to the airport for the return to Joburg. Exhaustion doesn’t begin to describe my condition when I arrived home.
That last word was all-important to Ghosn. He had already earned the nickname Le Cost Killer at Renault and now relished the opportunity to repeat the act on a larger stage. In our interview, he argued that scale was everything. Mergers and alliances were all that stood between many established brands and ruin.
With all this in mind, I wonder how Ghosn, now hiding out in Lebanon, views this week’s announcement of a reshaping of the alliance. Without going into unnecessary detail, Renault will reduce its stake in Nissan to 15%, with the remaining 28.4% going into a trust for eventual sale. Each company will now have a 15% vote in the other. In addition, Nissan will buy up to 15% of Ampere, Renault’s electric car unit. Mitsubishi, separately, may also invest.
Nissan executives have long complained that the unequal shareholding has limited their capacity to act in the best interests of their brand. De Meo says the structure had created a “culture of compromise” that hamstrung both parties. The new deal should simplify matters. US publication Automotive News quotes UK investment analyst Pierre-Olivier Essig as saying: “It’s the first time in many years that Renault and Nissan stop fighting each other.
So when rumours arose of false accounting at Nissan, and accusations that the Brazilian-Lebanese executive was using company resources for his personal ends, his enemies were ready to pounce and Ghosn was arrested in November 2018 when he returned to Tokyo from a trip to Lebanon.