France, Japan to uphold car alliance
BUENOS AIRES: The leaders of France and Japan on Friday stood by the Renault-Nissan car alliance despite ructions from the arrest of its chief executive officer (CEO), said officials.
President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met on the sidelines of the Group of 20 (G20) summit here hours after a Tokyo court extended the detention of sacked Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn.
“The president for his part recalled his commitment that the alliance be preserved as well as the stability of the group,” said a French official.
The partnership includes Mitsubishi Motors.
The Kyodo news agency quoted a senior Japanese official as saying Abe stressed the importance of all three companies “maintaining stable relationship”.
But the fate of the group should be decided by “private businesses“, and that “governments should not commit to how the alliance should operate going forward”, said the Japanese premier, according to the official quoted by Kyodo.
Macron is well-versed in the sensitivities of the car-making partnership. As a young economy minister in 2015, he triggered a crisis in the alliance by increasing the French state’s stake in Renault, which rattled Japan.
The move doubled the French state’s voting rights, alarming the Nissan side, which saw itself at risk of coming under French control. Paris subsequently reduced its stake in the alliance.
Renault holds a 43.4 per cent stake in Nissan, while Nissan owns only 15 per cent of Renault capital ties that the Japanese carmaker considers unfair and wants to revise.
The rules of the partnership state that Renault chooses the alliance’s CEO, who wields a tiebreaking vote in board decisions, while Nissan names the deputy.