Posted Oct 7, 2019 at 6:05 am
After announcing early September the resignation of its CEO Hiroto Saikawa Nissan had given itself until the end of October to select its replacement. But in view of the rapid deterioration of the group’s results, its board accelerated the selection process with the secret hope of being able to reveal a name before that deadline. The most optimistic have even hoped for an appointment on the occasion of Tuesday’s meeting of a board of directors in Yokohama.
A few hours after this meeting, the directors did not seem able to reveal the name of their elected and they could agree to meet again before the end of the month on the occasion of a board of directors exceptional to announce the result of their research.
Three profiles in the race
The nominating committee, made up of six members, including Jean-Dominique Senard, the president of Renault, chained in recent days interviews with dozens of executives to no longer retain a handful of applicants – each representing strategic lines slightly different.
According to our information, three names come back on the lists. The first is Ashwani Gupta, the current number two of Mitsubishi Motors. The engineer born in India moved to Renault, after studying at INSEAD, before joining the Alliance, where he worked for a long time in the division working on the purchase of common parts for both manufacturers. A time on the relaunch of the Datsun brand and on commercial vehicles he was promoted to director of Mitsubishi operations last March.
Slippery slope
At ease in several languages, he is a connoisseur of the arcana of the Alliance. He is seen by several directors, including Jean-Dominique Senard and Thierry Bolloré, the CEO of Renault, as the most likely to organize the recovery of the manufacturer who suffers a collapse in performance.
“A candidate like Ashwani Gupta, who has a global experience, would be able to define a drastic plan for overhauling society by relying on Alliance forces”, analyzes a framework familiar with the debates at Nissan . The group will only reveal its quarterly results next month, but initial data from headquarters show that sales and profitability continue to deteriorate.
Renault-compatibility
Faced with Ashawani Gupta, the main competitor still seems to be the pure product of the house Jun Seki, former boss of Nissan for China. He is also an engineer and has spent his entire career in the group and has established himself as one of the best connoisseurs of the Asian markets. Since last May, he worked alongside Hiroto Saikawa – now a party – on the group’s performance recovery program.
If his profile appeals rather to the Japanese leaders of Nissan, he is more questioned by the managers of Renault who know him badly (he never worked directly for the Alliance) and wonder about his capacity to take measures probably very painful. He seems more in favor of a recovery based on Nissan only than on a strategy encouraging greater collaborations with Renault, as the Losange would like – still the owner of 44% of the Japanese group and a supporter of a more complete rapprochement with his partner.
If his name is less mentioned in recent days, Makoto Uchida, Nissan’s current boss in China, would also remain in the running. Aged 53, he represents a new generation and has held positions in Renault with RNPO, the Alliance’s component purchasing company, and Renault Samsung in South Korea. Some directors fear that he does not have a sufficiently broad knowledge of the company and foreign markets to organize the rebound, which will take several years.