 referred to as just the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the group became the world’s largest automaker in 2017 and is putting in a strong performance so far in 2018. Just because something works doesn’t […] "'Pin It")
Ghosn Considering Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance Reorganization
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Carlos Ghosn might not be the head of Nissan anymore, but he’s still the chairman of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. Formerly (and commonly) referred to as just the Renault-Nissan Alliance, the group became the world’s largest automaker in 2017 and is putting in a strong performance so far in 2018. Just because something works doesn’t mean that it cannot be improved, and that’s why the big boss announced this week that the Alliance’s structure will be reworked by the end of his term in 2022.
Ghosn’s comments were made before the company’s annual meeting in Paris, according to Bloomberg. Ghosn was up for reelection as CEO of the Renault-Nissan Alliance at the assembly, so it’s possible that he made the suggestion as a sort of campaign speech. There were no real contenders for his job, however, so he shouldn’t have felt like he needed to make any epic promises, but there was a bit of pushback from shareholders about his €7.4 million in pay last year.* Perhaps he was showing off his big plans to make him look worthy of a hefty price tag.
To be fair, the Renault-Nissan Alliance is sort of a tangled mess right now. Renault, a company on the smaller side, has a 44 percent stake in Nissan and can vote in things referred to stockholders, and the country of France is Renault’s largest stakeholder (but there are rules in place to prevent France from doing too much meddling in Nissan and the partnership). Nissan owns 15 percent of Renault and has no voting rights, and the partnership also owns Mitsubishi, which is embroiled in a pre-purchase scandal and seems to have little to no voice in the Alliance.
Rumors are almost always swirling about Renault and Nissan combining to become one automaker, and last month the new CEO of Nissan, Hiroto Saikawa, implied that he didn’t see that in the cards. However, Ghosn backtracked his remark, saying “He didn’t say that. He said you have to first determine the merits of a combination before thinking about it, which is completely reasonable.”
Whatever becomes of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance will take almost all of Ghosn’s new four-year term as CEO to come to fruition, considering how many moving parts will need to be changed for any meaningful restructuring. We’ll let you know if we hear anything new about this getting any messier.
*Americans, that’s a lot of money in other countries. Stop laughing.
News Source: Bloomberg
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