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Turning over a new leaf, Mitsubishi sacks Ghosn
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Mitsubishi Motors has removed Carlos Ghosn as chairman, following his arrest and sacking from alliance partner Nissan Motor last week for alleged financial misconduct.
Ghosn’s firing in a unanimous board vote marks the end of his chairmanship of Japanese automakers, just two years after he was praised for bringing a steadying hand to Mitsubishi Motors following a cheating scandal in 2016.
CEO Osamu Masuko will become temporary chairman.
“Ghosn has lost the confidence of Nissan” and it is “difficult for him to fulfill his duties,” Mitsubishi Motors said.
Nissan holds a controlling 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors and has two executives on the board.
Renault has refrained from firing Ghosn as chairman and CEO. Mitsubishi’s move comes amid discontent over French partner Renault’s role in the 19-year Franco-Japanese alliance of which Ghosn was the driving force.
Sealed in 1999 when Nissan was rescued from near-bankruptcy, it was enlarged in 2016 to include Mitsubishi and enabled the members to jointly develop products and control costs.
Even as Nissan has recovered and grown rapidly, it remains a junior partner in the shareholding structure.
Renault owns 43 percent of Nissan and the Japanese automaker holds a 15 percent non-voting stake in the French firm. Nissan is almost 60 percent bigger than Renault by sales.
Mitsubishi Motors already had plans to discuss its position in the alliance, and it needs to consider focusing on regions and technology where it can retain competitiveness, CEO Masuko said.
Cooperation among alliance members is needed amid the rise of new technology like automated and Internet-connected vehicles, he said.
Nissan CEO Hiroto Saikawa told staff that power was too concentrated with Ghosn and that in future better communication between alliance board members and executives would help preserve independence and generate synergies among the automakers.
While the automakers have stressed that operations and business are proceeding as normal, Nissan has postponed the launch of its high-performance Leaf electric car “to ensure that this important product unveiling could receive the coverage it merits,” a Nissan spokesman said.
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