How do you say “no” in Japanese? Friday night, Thierry Bolloré, the interim boss of Renault, sent a letter to Hiroto Saikawa, his counterpart at Nissan, to ask him to hold a meeting. general meeting extraordinary Japanese manufacturer. Thierry Bolloré explained in his missive to be “very concerned” by the indictment of the Japanese group and want to discuss as soon as possible its governance in AG. Nissan’s answer was clear: it’s niet!
Nissan master of his destiny
“We will listen to the opinion of our Renault partner but ultimately we are responsible for the governance of Nissan,” said Hiroto Saikawa. Since his hasty press conference on November 19, the evening of the spectacular arrest of Carlos Ghosn in Tokyo, Hiroto Saikawa had not intervened in public. This Monday evening, he went out of his reserve to indicate firmly that Nissan was master of his destiny and set alone the agenda of its recovery, after the scandal Ghosn …
Without criticizing head-on Renault, its shareholder to 43%, Hiroto Saikawa said that the Japanese manufacturer had no intention of quickly convene a general meeting of its shareholders. He also refuses to immediately appoint a successor to Carlos Ghosn as president. “We plan to be cautious in this process and we will not rush,” said the CEO Japanese.
According to our information, Renault’s request was supported by Daimler, a shareholder in Renault and Nissan. “We still have a group that refuses a request issued by 46% of its shareholders,” said a French source, worried about the consequences of an open war on Renault and Nissan.
Take a foothold at Nissan
Clearly, mistrust still seems to be between the two members of the Alliance. And the case could warm up seriously. In its statement, Nissan repeats being ready to present “anytime” the conclusions of its internal investigation on Carlos Ghosn to the board of Renault. Until now, the thing was refused by Renault management, who says he wants to respect a strict legal framework.
French side, it was asked to be able to exercise its rights at Nissan . Under the Rama, the contract between the two parties reviewed in 2016, Renault can have up to four directors on the board of the Japanese manufacturer and have a man on the executive committee (COO, CEO, chief competitive officer or executive chairman ). “Today, we do not have the capacity of an actor who would have 43% of the capital of a company”, conceded a few days ago a leader of Renault.
Currently, Nissan’s board has only two Renault representatives, Jean-Baptiste Duzan and Bernard Rey – Carlos Ghosn and Greg Kelly (who replaced Carlos Tavares in 2012) who are currently in prolonged custody. On the operational side, we find the French Philippe Klein at the head of Nissan’s programs, the Belgian Christian Vandenhende at the direction of quality or Denis Le Vot, driving Nissan USA. But no “top managers”.
Take his time
Las! The Japanese manufacturer clearly intends on this plan too, to wait for the recommendations of its special committee to improve its governance. Composed of seven members, including three from Nissan’s board (Jean-Baptiste Duzan is the only French representative Renault), it will be chaired by Seiichiro Nishioka, a judge Tokyo. The special committee must submit its conclusions before the end of March.
This committee must rethink the organization of the group’s management, the management of the remuneration of the directors, but also possibly the selection procedure of the future chairman of the builder. “I want the special committee to say whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing for just one person to assume the positions of CEO and chairman of the group,” said Hiroto Saikawa, who remains vague about his possible candidacy for the position. “I am open to all recommendations,” said the leader. Which however seems closed to the recommendations of Renault.