Trio still committed to alliance

Extension of Ghosn’s detention sought

PARIS: Automakers Renault SA, Nissan Motor Co and Mitsubishi Motors Corp reaffirmed their committment to their alliance yesterday as their leaders held their first meeting since the shock arrest of boss Carlos Ghosn.

“We remain fully committed to the alliance,” the three firms said in a joint statement as Ghosn remains in custody in Japan on allegations of financial misconduct.

The talismanic Ghosn was seen as the glue binding together a complex threeway structure which counts as the world’s top-selling auto company, with some 10.6 million vehicles rolling off the production lines last year.

His arrest revealed brewing resentment and unrest within the Franco-Japanese partnership.

Nissan chief executive Hiroto Saikawa, Renault’s interim boss Thierry Bollore and Mitsuibishi’s CEO Osamu Masuko conversed via video, sources and the Nikkei daily reported.

Issues of governance were not meant to be raised in the meeting and no vote was planned, the sources told AFP.

In their joint statement, the three firms said their “alliance has achieved unparalleled success in the past two decades”.

Renault is the dominant member of the alliance, holding 43% of the shares in Nissan, but the Japanese firm outsells its French counterpart — sparking frustration in Tokyo.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Tuesday warned that there was no question of a change in the balance of power between Renault, which is 15% owned by the French state, and its Japanese partners.

“There is a partnership which seems good to me, there is a good balance. There are cross-shareholdings between Renault and Nissan which should not change,” Le Maire said on France’s LCI news channel.

The rules of the alliance, based in the Netherlands, state that Renault and Nissan appoint five board members each but it is the French company which names the CEO while Nissan chooses the deputy.

The CEO holds a decisive vote in the case of a tie in board decisions.

While Ghosn has been ousted from Mitsubishi and Nissan, he remains CEO and chairman of Renault, albeit “incapacitated” for the moment, according to the French manufacturer.

Le Maire insisted Renault should retain the top position in the alliance: “This rule should not change”.

The partnership uses shared factories and joint purchasing power to keep down costs. These arrangements are not under threat, according to statements from both the Japanese and French sides.

Ghosn and close aide Greg Kelly were arrested last week for allegedly conspiring to under-report Ghosn’s income by around $44 million — about half of what should have been reported — over five fiscal years until March 2015.

The 64-year-old tycoon denies the allegations but has not been able to defend himself publicly while he is in a Tokyo detention centre.

Tokyo prosecutors plan to seek an extension of the detention period of Ghosn, sources close to the matter said yesterday.

Ghosn, who holds French citizenship, was arrested on Nov 19 and his detention period was extended 10 days through today based on a court decision issued on Nov 21.

French media reports have been critical of the way the former boss of the major Japanese carmaker has been treated since his arrest, regarding the period he has spent in detention as lengthy.

But Shin Kukimoto, deputy prosecutor at the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, told a regular press conference yesterday that “there is no problem” with Ghosn’s detention, arguing that it “is based on necessity.”

Prosecutors can seek court approval to detain Ghoshn for another 10 days before deciding whether to indict him.