Say what you’ll about Carlos Ghosn, however he definitely is aware of the right way to fire up controversy. After fleeing home arrest in late 2019 and taking refuge in Lebanon, the place residents should not extradited, the ex-Nissan supremo nonetheless speaks to the press sometimes. Each media look is crammed with sharp criticisms of his former employer, and his newest interview with French information broadcaster BFM TV is not any exception.
The 71-year-old former government of Nissan, Renault, and their alliance claims he noticed the Japanese automaker’s issues coming: “I had foreseen the decline of Nissan and the disappearance of the alliance.” He may need been proper in regards to the first half, however the two firms are nonetheless collectively, although the partnership isn’t as robust because it as soon as was. Cross-shareholdings are lowering from 15 to 10 %, and Renault is buying Nissan’s 51 % stake of their Indian operations.
Picture by: Nissan
As for what went improper at Nissan, Ghosn lays the blame squarely on its management: “Selections that had been too gradual,” he stated, including that “many of the issues lie with Nissan’s administration.” Recognized for talking his thoughts, the previous CEO didn’t maintain again: “The corporate is in a determined scenario” and is “compelled to go begging for assist from one in every of its foremost rivals in Japan.”
That competitor is Honda. Nevertheless, we should always make clear that the proposed mega-merger between the 2 fell aside only a few months into negotiations. Ghosn believes a super-company ensuing from a Nissan-Honda merger “doesn’t make sense.” Final August, he informed Automotive Information that Honda had been planning a “disguised takeover” that might have put it “within the driver’s seat.”
He wasn’t improper about that. When talks collapsed, Honda admitted it didn’t need a merger of equals however as a substitute aimed to make Nissan a subsidiary:
“Honda proposed altering the construction from establishing a joint holding firm—the place Honda would appoint nearly all of administrators and the chief government officer based mostly on a joint share switch as initially outlined within the MOU—to a construction the place Honda could be the mother or father firm and Nissan the subsidiary by a share change.”
Wanting again, Ghosn had lots to say, calling the Nissan-Honda merger try a “determined transfer.” He described the prevailing alliance with Renault as “small and fragile” and stated Nissan has turn into “boring, mediocre.” In his newest interview with BFM TV, the person who faces a global arrest warrant after leaping bail in Japan and fleeing to Lebanon claimed Nissan is “within the doldrums.”
As a reminder, Ghosn is dealing with allegations of misuse of firm property, cash laundering, and corruption. He famously escaped on a personal jet whereas allegedly hiding in an audio gear case as a result of the field couldn’t match into the screening machine. Nevertheless, he later denied the rumor in an interview with Fox Enterprise Community: “I used to be not in a musical field.”
