Another company—Mitsubishi—has removed Carlos Ghosn, the embattled executive currently in jail in Japan for alleged tax evasion.
The move comes after Nissan announced its own ouster and revealed it had been investigating Ghosn for weeks. Ghosn has not yet publicly addressed the accusations, but Greg Kelly, whom investigators peg as a co-conspirator, told public broadcaster NHK that the charges were inaccurate.
Claims against [Ghosn], who led the Renault-Nissan alliance, include falsely reporting his earnings.Public broadcaster NHK reported he had told investigators there was no intention to under-report his earnings.
He has not spoken publicly.
Greg Kelly, a former Nissan executive arrested along with Mr Ghosn, was quoted by NHK as defending his boss's compensation, saying it was discussed with other officials and paid out appropriately.
Mitsubishi says the risk to its reputation is too great, however.
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In a statement on Monday, Osamu Masuko, chief executive of Mitsubishi, said the board had removed Mr. Ghosn because “he lost the trust of Nissan and he cannot execute his duties as chairman and representative director any longer.”Mr. Masuko added that if Mr. Ghosn remained as chairman, it could expose Mitsubishi to “reputation risk.”
Masuko also spoke to reporters about how hard the decision was to make.
"It was an agonizing decision," Masuko told reporters after the vote. "The priority was what to do to protect the company, what to do to protect our employees and their families. It was an unavoidable decision."The move by Mitsubishi ends Ghosn's reign at the helm of two of Japan's major carmakers.
He retains his positions as CEO and chairman of Renault, but the French carmaker has asked other people to perform those roles on an interim basis.
The alliance that Ghosn helped to build between Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi now appears to be in peril, with leaders at Nissan claiming that the power balance is unequal—and that Ghosn wielded too much influence.
CNN continued:
Together Nissan, Renault and Mitsubishi make one of every nine cars sold around the world. They employ more than 470,000 people in nearly 200 countries. Mitsubishi is the smallest member of the alliance, having only joined when Nissan bought a 34% stake in the automaker in 2016 following a major emissions scandal.Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa told employees at a town hall meeting on Monday that Ghosn had accumulated too much power at the top of the alliance, and he was concerned this was damaging business.
All three companies have tried to persuade investors that the future of the alliance is not in doubt. Top alliance executives are reportedly due to meet in Amsterdam this week to discuss their joint operations.
Renault has been the slowest to distance itself from Ghosn.
On Sunday, France's finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, said the government and Renault had yet to see evidence to support Nissan's allegations.He also told BFM-TV that France was keen to pursue a strengthening of the alliance "that would respect existing cross-shareholding".
Renault has also yet to remove Ghosn from his leadership roles, instead appointing interim caretakers.
Meanwhile, Ghosn’s legal team has stayed mum, allowing surrogates to attack the case against the former executive.
Former Japanese prosecutors have described the interrogation process, in which suspects are not allowed to have their lawyers present during questioning.Some critics have questioned the way in which Mr. Ghosn has been detained. Speaking to reporters at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on Monday, Nobuo Gohara, a former prosecutor, described the Tokyo public prosecutor’s office as “very reckless and dangerous.”
“I would have thought being careful would be the norm,” Mr. Gohara said. “But in this case, I feel they have not been careful.”
How would you advise these car companies to protect their reputations, PR Daily readers?
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