Renault Pushing For Carlos Ghosn To Stay On Another 4 Years As CEO, Seek Deeper Ties With Nissan
In contrast to earlier expectations that he would vacate his position as CEO at Renault and move into a chairman role for the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, the board of directors at Renault has asked Carlos Ghosn to stay on another 4 years, it’s been reported.
In addition to that request, the board of directors at Renault has also requested that Ghosn use his position to seek deeper ties with Nissan. Or to use the exact words, that he should “take decisive steps to make the alliance irreversible” during this proposed new 4-year term as CEO.
This proposal will reportedly be presented to Renault’s shareholders at the next annual meeting in June.
Reuters provides more: “France, which owns 15% of Renault and backed the resolutions, has been pressing for a deeper tie-up with Nissan to ensure the carmakers’ 19-year-old alliance can survive the eventual departure of Ghosn, its main architect.”
And commenting on an earlier clash between the government of France and other company shareholders: “Both sides have sought to avoid a repeat of a bitter 2015 clash in which Macron — then economy minister — raised the government’s Renault stake to swing a shareholder vote and secure double voting rights. Shareholders led by the state voted to reject the CEO’s compensation package the following year, and approved it only narrowly in 2017. But the government backed Ghosn’s salary at Thursday’s board meeting after he agreed to a significant cut, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.”
So, why should any of this boardroom intrigue and politics matter to you? Mostly because Carlos Ghosn was arguably the main driving force behind early Renault and Nissan plug-in electric vehicle offerings. If you’re wondering why the Renault Zoe and Nissan LEAF entered the market when there wasn’t really anything out there that was comparable … Carlos Ghosn is the man to ask. One would presume that EV leadership would continue to be strong under Ghosn, whereas we have no real idea how a replacement might see the industry.
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